The M+G+R Foundation
Current News Commentary (1)April 30th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Hoax on Twitter That Moved Markets Raises Worries.
Could the global economy hinge on 140
characters?
That is the question the financial industry and government regulators are trying to answer after a Twitter hoax on Tuesday that claimed President Obama was injured in an explosion at the White House.
That report caused the Dow Jones industrial average to drop temporarily by 150 points, erasing $136 billion in market value, Amy Chozick and Nicole Perlroth report in The New York Times on Monday. (1)
The markets recovered in minutes, but the episode has heightened concern among regulators about the combination of social media and high-frequency trading.
The vulnerability, in part, stems from the Securities and Exchange Commission's decision this month to let companies and executives use social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to broadcast market-moving news.
That is the question the financial industry and government regulators are trying to answer after a Twitter hoax on Tuesday that claimed President Obama was injured in an explosion at the White House.
That report caused the Dow Jones industrial average to drop temporarily by 150 points, erasing $136 billion in market value, Amy Chozick and Nicole Perlroth report in The New York Times on Monday. (1)
The markets recovered in minutes, but the episode has heightened concern among regulators about the combination of social media and high-frequency trading.
The vulnerability, in part, stems from the Securities and Exchange Commission's decision this month to let companies and executives use social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to broadcast market-moving news.
miguel de Portugal comments: Well, well, well.... "Little Suzie" is waking up! (2)
Now, let's see if "Suzie" has enough sense to do something about it it, lest she miss the "coffee call". (3)
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(1) New York Times Reports
(2) Who is "Little Suzie"?
(3) Referring to "Wake up and smell the coffee!" saying
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
When Your Data Wanders to Places You've Never Been. (1)
A few weeks ago, a friend of this article's author received a flier in the mail inviting her to an
event in Manhattan for patients with multiple sclerosis.
The thing is that his friend, who requested that her name be kept out of his column, does not have multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system.
It so happens that last year, she did search online for information about various diseases, including M.S., on a number of consumer health sites. She also subscribed to an online recommendation engine where she looked up consumer reviews of local physicians.
Now she wondered whether one of those companies had erroneously profiled her as an M.S. patient and shared that profile with drug-company marketers.
She worried about the potential ramifications: Could she, for instance, someday be denied life insurance on the basis of that profile?
She wanted to track down the source of the data, correct her profile and, if possible, prevent further dissemination of the information. But she didn't know which company had collected and shared the data in the first place, so she didn't know how to have her entry removed from the original marketing list.
The thing is that his friend, who requested that her name be kept out of his column, does not have multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system.
It so happens that last year, she did search online for information about various diseases, including M.S., on a number of consumer health sites. She also subscribed to an online recommendation engine where she looked up consumer reviews of local physicians.
Now she wondered whether one of those companies had erroneously profiled her as an M.S. patient and shared that profile with drug-company marketers.
She worried about the potential ramifications: Could she, for instance, someday be denied life insurance on the basis of that profile?
She wanted to track down the source of the data, correct her profile and, if possible, prevent further dissemination of the information. But she didn't know which company had collected and shared the data in the first place, so she didn't know how to have her entry removed from the original marketing list.
miguel de Portugal comments: Now let's see if some of the "Suzies" in our readership wake up and understand now what we meant recently about the problem (2) with some search engines.
Do you realize that unless that lady makes a proverbial Federal Case out of it she will carry that label the rest of her life? Even if she tried the courts, we sincerely believe that she will get nowhere in trying to track down every algorithm where her non existent disease is included.
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(1) New York Times Reports
(2) You are being "followed"
Other News Reports
Other important news reports appear today in our FYI&R Page
April 29th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Data Mining Students Through Common Core. (1)
Awareness is growing rapidly about the recent initiative to bring Common Core Standards to schools
across America. Although the standards were supposedly proposed by the National Governors
Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) -
giving the illusion that the agenda is
"state-led," it was the federal government that endorsed the plan by offering $4 billion in
grant money....
Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) recently decided to take action and write a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan... - and in the last half of his letter he emphasized the crux of the problem: data mining.
"We understand that as a condition of applying for [Race to the Top] grant funding, states obligated themselves to implement a State Longitudinal Database System (SLDS) used to track students by obtaining personally identifiable information," Luetkemeyer said.
Parents might reasonably assume that the "personally identifiable information" collected for the database will include students' test scores and perhaps other measures of academic proficiency. But they would be much less likely to imagine that.... something far more extensive and invasive than merely tracking academic performance.
According to the Department of Education's February 2013 report Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and Perseverance: Critical Factors for Success in the 21st Century, "Researchers are exploring how to gather complex affective data and generate meaningful and usable information to feed back to learners, teachers, researchers, and the technology itself. Connections to neuroscience are also beginning to emerge."
Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) recently decided to take action and write a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan... - and in the last half of his letter he emphasized the crux of the problem: data mining.
"We understand that as a condition of applying for [Race to the Top] grant funding, states obligated themselves to implement a State Longitudinal Database System (SLDS) used to track students by obtaining personally identifiable information," Luetkemeyer said.
Parents might reasonably assume that the "personally identifiable information" collected for the database will include students' test scores and perhaps other measures of academic proficiency. But they would be much less likely to imagine that.... something far more extensive and invasive than merely tracking academic performance.
According to the Department of Education's February 2013 report Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and Perseverance: Critical Factors for Success in the 21st Century, "Researchers are exploring how to gather complex affective data and generate meaningful and usable information to feed back to learners, teachers, researchers, and the technology itself. Connections to neuroscience are also beginning to emerge."
miguel de Portugal comments: The problem with this data mining will become painfully obvious if one understands how a computer is taught.
For the scientific minded reader, we recommend a review of the Scientific American June 20, 2012, article titled "How to Teach Computers to Learn on Their Own - New techniques for teaching computers how to learn are beating the experts". (2) (3) The article is about teaching computers, however, what we want to point out to our readers is - Where is the information being taught coming from?
Data mining allows the development of algorithms for specific situations or individuals which - if based on enough data - will allow the very accurate prediction of the outcome of a situation or behavior of an individual. Taking it one step further, once you can accurately predict an outcome, the situation and/or individual can be influenced so that the predicted outcome is the desire one.
The only consoling note may be found in the potential improvement of our (US) abysmal Foreign Policy. If we would apply ourselves in developing accurate algorithms on the key nations of the world, our Foreign Policy would be a success. Obviously Google is great at generating algorithms but the Feds are not.
We will share with our readers two perfect examples of what we are talking about:
(a) Since the time I started studying history and progressed through it at different scholastic levels, I always wondered: "How could Spain lose the North and South American continents placed in their hands by Providence via Christopher Columbus.?"
Once I have lived immersed in their culture - most specifically in the region of Spain which was
spearheading the conquest of the Americas - I understood why. The "algorithm" of these people has
not changed in 500 years! The ruling class and the people can be very predictable today because
the key elements of their culture (algorithms)
have not changed in at least 1,000 years.
(b) How could Portugal, such a small European country, which amassed the enormous world wide empire they controlled, became a third world country by the mid 18th century?
The Portuguese people's self worth and power "algorithm", up to 1755, was based on their belief of
an almighty Roman Catholic Church (not God, but on the Church as is the case amongst most
Catholics) and the Royal House - thus they felt very secure. Secure enough to have amassed such an
Empire considering the tiny size of their Kingdom in Europe.
In 1755 earthquakes, tsunamis and fires destroyed Lisbon - the capital of the Empire. The "almighty" local Roman Catholic Church and Royal House were overwhelmed and crumbled, and the Portuguese people saw their complete inability to face what had taken place. Their security was shattered and they dropped to the level I found in my first visit to Portugal on 1991 - a third world country.
As I walked around - whether Lisbon, Santarem or Fatima - I felt that I had been transported back at least 50 years. This is not an exaggeration. It almost felt like a Twilight Zone experience - broken every time I saw a late model automobile drive by.
Having been also immersed into Portuguese culture, I have no doubt that with a political and religious leadership that the Portuguese could admire and respect (something that they have not had for probably a century or more) they would again become a nation that would command respect, thus, attention, on the world stage. The Portuguese make-up (algorithms) has not changed at all.
In 1755 earthquakes, tsunamis and fires destroyed Lisbon - the capital of the Empire. The "almighty" local Roman Catholic Church and Royal House were overwhelmed and crumbled, and the Portuguese people saw their complete inability to face what had taken place. Their security was shattered and they dropped to the level I found in my first visit to Portugal on 1991 - a third world country.
As I walked around - whether Lisbon, Santarem or Fatima - I felt that I had been transported back at least 50 years. This is not an exaggeration. It almost felt like a Twilight Zone experience - broken every time I saw a late model automobile drive by.
Having been also immersed into Portuguese culture, I have no doubt that with a political and religious leadership that the Portuguese could admire and respect (something that they have not had for probably a century or more) they would again become a nation that would command respect, thus, attention, on the world stage. The Portuguese make-up (algorithms) has not changed at all.
Frankly, I am amazed that our State Department has not made an all out effort to develop the algorithms on the key nations of the world. With what I now know about their effectiveness in predicting behavior, we would consider it a No. 1 National Security priority.
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(1) Source
(2) Abstract of Article
(3) If you are serious about understanding this matter Click Here
April 27th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
U.S. options limited on Syria despite weapons report. (1)
The White House disclosure that the Syrian government
has twice used chemical weapons still leaves the Obama administration stuck with a limited
choice of military options to help the rebels oust President Bashar Assad.
Arming the rebels runs smack into the reality that a military group fighting alongside them has pledged allegiance to al-Qaida. Establishing a no-fly zone poses a significant challenge as Syria possesses an air defense system far more robust than what the U.S. and its allies overwhelmed in Libya two years ago.
President Barack Obama had declared that the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons in the two-year civil war would be "game changer" that would cross a "red line" for a major military response, but the White House made clear Thursday that even a quick strike wasn't imminent.
Yet it also underscored the difficulties of any step for war-weary lawmakers horrified by a conflict that has killed an estimated 70,000 but guarded about U.S. involvement in a Mideast war.
"There's no easy choice here," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a member of the Armed Services Committee. "All the alternatives are flawed. It's just finding the least flawed among them that will get Assad out."
Arming the rebels runs smack into the reality that a military group fighting alongside them has pledged allegiance to al-Qaida. Establishing a no-fly zone poses a significant challenge as Syria possesses an air defense system far more robust than what the U.S. and its allies overwhelmed in Libya two years ago.
President Barack Obama had declared that the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons in the two-year civil war would be "game changer" that would cross a "red line" for a major military response, but the White House made clear Thursday that even a quick strike wasn't imminent.
Yet it also underscored the difficulties of any step for war-weary lawmakers horrified by a conflict that has killed an estimated 70,000 but guarded about U.S. involvement in a Mideast war.
"There's no easy choice here," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a member of the Armed Services Committee. "All the alternatives are flawed. It's just finding the least flawed among them that will get Assad out."
miguel de Portugal comments: President Obama should have never threatened with serious consequences for crossing the "red line" if he did not have a plan already to implement. Now, with egg dripping from our faces, we keep hearing the echoes of when China referred to us as a "Paper Tiger". Such gelatin like spine only brings more calamities with many nations and groups of insurgents "pushing the envelope" more an more.
As all of regular readers should know, we are against war in any form or fashion. We do not even acknowledge nor accept the Blessed by the Vatican "Just Wars" and our proposed solution for this horrific Syrian situation is the same one we propose for anything: Prayer and honest and practical dialogue. It has worked in the past (2) and always will as long as we do not fall in the category mentioned in the first chapter of Isaiah.
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(1) News Report
(2) The saving of Constantinople
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
E-tattoo monitors brainwaves and baby bump. (1)
An electronic patch can analyse complex brainwaves and listen in on a fetus' heart
Mind reading can be as simple as slapping a sticker on your forehead. An "electronic tattoo" containing flexible electronic circuits can now record some complex brain activity as accurately as an EEG. The tattoo could also provide a cheap way to monitor a developing fetus.
Because its electronic components are already mass-produced, the tattoo can also be made very cheaply.
That means it might also lend itself to pregnancy monitoring in developing countries. With help from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Coleman's group is working on an unobtrusive version of the tattoo that monitors signals such as maternal contractions and fetal heart rate.
Mind reading can be as simple as slapping a sticker on your forehead. An "electronic tattoo" containing flexible electronic circuits can now record some complex brain activity as accurately as an EEG. The tattoo could also provide a cheap way to monitor a developing fetus.
Because its electronic components are already mass-produced, the tattoo can also be made very cheaply.
That means it might also lend itself to pregnancy monitoring in developing countries. With help from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Coleman's group is working on an unobtrusive version of the tattoo that monitors signals such as maternal contractions and fetal heart rate.
miguel de Portugal comments: Just what we needed - a mind-reading tattoo!
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(1) New Scientist Reports
April 26th, 2013 [Mary, Mother of Good Counsel (0)]
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Texas Fertilizer Plant Fell Through Regulatory Cracks. (1)
In the moments after a fire broke out at a fertilizer plant here last week,
some of the volunteer firefighters and other first
responders who rushed to the scene appeared to have known that there were tons of dangerously
combustible ammonium nitrate inside, but others
did not.
The uncertainty over who was aware of the chemical at the plant and who was not, both at the site and in Washington, illustrates the patchwork regulatory world the plant operated in and the ways in which it slipped through bureaucratic cracks at the federal, state and local levels.
One week after the blast, investigators were still not sure how much ammonium nitrate was stored there...,
"The whole thing may have fallen through a number of regulatory cracks," said a federal official whose agency helped regulate the plant.
The blast occurred shortly before 8 p.m. on April 17, about 20 minutes after a fire was reported at the plant, the West Fertilizer Company, in this rural town north of Waco, in McLennan County.
The plant did not make ammonium nitrate, but was a retail distribution center; the chemical was brought in by train and stored and sold out of large bins.
The uncertainty over who was aware of the chemical at the plant and who was not, both at the site and in Washington, illustrates the patchwork regulatory world the plant operated in and the ways in which it slipped through bureaucratic cracks at the federal, state and local levels.
One week after the blast, investigators were still not sure how much ammonium nitrate was stored there...,
"The whole thing may have fallen through a number of regulatory cracks," said a federal official whose agency helped regulate the plant.
The blast occurred shortly before 8 p.m. on April 17, about 20 minutes after a fire was reported at the plant, the West Fertilizer Company, in this rural town north of Waco, in McLennan County.
The plant did not make ammonium nitrate, but was a retail distribution center; the chemical was brought in by train and stored and sold out of large bins.
miguel de Portugal comments: The real tragedy is that man does not seem to have the capacity to learn what he should, even though it has the capacity to learn any number of facts and figures of no value whatsoever.
Take a look....
The Texas City disaster of April 16, 1947 was the
deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of the largest non-nuclear explosions.
Originating with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp (docked in the Port of Texas City), its cargo of approximately 2,300 tons (approximately 2,100 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate detonated, with the initial blast and subsequent chain-reaction of further fires and explosions in other ships and nearby oil-storage facilities killing at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department. (2)
Originating with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp (docked in the Port of Texas City), its cargo of approximately 2,300 tons (approximately 2,100 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate detonated, with the initial blast and subsequent chain-reaction of further fires and explosions in other ships and nearby oil-storage facilities killing at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department. (2)
An event billed as the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of the largest non-nuclear explosions, having taken place barely 200 miles apart, in the same State and separated by only sixty six years.... and the same mistakes are made.
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(0) A Good Counsel indeed; unfortunately it is wasted by most humans
(1) New York Times Reports
(2) Texas City Disaster details
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Greece to pursue wartime damage claim from Germany to ease economic woes. (1)
Greece says it plans to pursue Germany for billions of euros in compensation for damage suffered
during World War II as a way of easing its debts. The
move is likely to put a further strain on relations between Athens and Berlin.
Media reports say Greek experts have concluded the country should receive 162 billion euros; 108 billion for wartime damage to infrastructure and 54 billion for a loan that the occupying Nazis obliged Athens to take to pay Berlin. It supposedly adds up to 80 percent of Greek GDP.
"We will exhaust all means that exist to reach a result, and for as long a time and with as much effort as is needed," the Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos told parliament. He added that the finance ministry has put together a dossier with six decades of documentary evidence.
Media reports say Greek experts have concluded the country should receive 162 billion euros; 108 billion for wartime damage to infrastructure and 54 billion for a loan that the occupying Nazis obliged Athens to take to pay Berlin. It supposedly adds up to 80 percent of Greek GDP.
"We will exhaust all means that exist to reach a result, and for as long a time and with as much effort as is needed," the Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos told parliament. He added that the finance ministry has put together a dossier with six decades of documentary evidence.
miguel de Portugal comments: Obviously, the Greek government is serious about this.
The Greek man-on-the-street is already furious with Germany due to the almost inhumane belt tightening measures imposed upon them, and mostly dictated by Germany, therefore, anything could happen as the population digest the above reality.
The European "Union" continues to crumble while the leadership continues to "look the other way". As we were saying..... man is indeed incapable of learning what he must. (2)
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(1) Euronews Reports
(2) The French Revolution and the End of These Times - An Amazing Parallel
April 25th, 2013 [Feast Day of St. Mark the Evangelist]
Mr. IW comments on News Report of April 24th
[Mr. IW's highlights]
In reference to your post in the New Commentary page regarding the "Serbian Orthodox Church Rocked
By Sex Scandal".
This is very sad. Yet the general outline of this situation is identical with what Cardinal Edward Egan was publicly accused of being a part of in Chicago: A ring of clerics AND prominent businessmen in Chicago who regularly held orgies with young boys as the 'guests of honor'.
Egan is not alone in this. Another example is Bishop Howard Hubbard o Albany, NY. Both Prelates
'investigated themselves' ....and found themselves to be innocent.This is very sad. Yet the general outline of this situation is identical with what Cardinal Edward Egan was publicly accused of being a part of in Chicago: A ring of clerics AND prominent businessmen in Chicago who regularly held orgies with young boys as the 'guests of honor'.
miguel de Portugal comments: Thank you for your feedback.
Indeed, indeed, the greatest problem after clerical perversion is the state of self-imposed blindness of those who are around and cannot miss that reality, including other clerics, hierarchy and even lay members of the parishes/schools/camps etc.
m de P worked with a couple many years ago who discovered that the baseball coach of their 16 year old son had been molesting him and up to fifty other boys. Once they alerted the other parents, they had to almost fight with them to drag the man to court. The other parents wanted to fire the coach and let him find work elsewhere.... coaching boys, of course!
Thanks be to God they succeeded and the abuser was indicted, judged and jailed. This level of blindess/denial/refusal to act is much, much greater when a cleric is involved.
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
FBI looks into hacker attack on Associated Press. (1)
America's Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened an inquiry into
how hackers took control of the Associated Press Twitter
account and managed to send shockwaves through financial markets.
A false tweet on the account also reported that two explosions at the White House left President Barack Obama injured.
In a video released on the net, a man from a group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army, which supports President al-Assad, said the action was a protest against the western media's coverage of Syria’s opposition.
Although the White House took only three minutes to issue a denial, virtually all US markets dropped on the false news in what one trader described as "pure chaos."
A false tweet on the account also reported that two explosions at the White House left President Barack Obama injured.
In a video released on the net, a man from a group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army, which supports President al-Assad, said the action was a protest against the western media's coverage of Syria’s opposition.
Although the White House took only three minutes to issue a denial, virtually all US markets dropped on the false news in what one trader described as "pure chaos."
miguel de Portugal comments: Now imagine if the hackers had managed to, somehow, block the deactivation of AP's Twitter account and it had been active, with updates, for a while.
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(1) Euronews Reports
April 24th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Serbian Orthodox Church Rocked By Sex Scandal. (1)
miguel de Portugal comments: In case someone thought that evil was only running rampant in the West and in the Roman Catholic Church, the above news should dispel any notions of that. It is obvious that swine acting individuals are everywhere.
Be sure and take a look at the lavish, gilt-edged lifestyle of these filthy and revolting creatures.
Now then, what better object for our prayers than for the conversion of these swine acting clerics? And pray we must!
If you can sincerely pray for their conversion, then you are really making progress in imitating our Lord Jesus Christ.
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(1) Radio Free Europe Reports
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Israeli official: Syria's Assad used chemical arms. (1)
miguel de Portugal comments: Recognizing the reality that "Charity starts at home" we still must ponder:
Our leadership better ponder upon those questions very carefully. God is perfectly Just and only shows favor upon those who sincerely strive to live His Word and start his/her return to Him as the Prodigal Son did.
We can only lead the proverbial horse to the water but we cannot force the horse to drink!
Here is the reader's second great opportunity to show God that you love Him. Pray for the conversion of Assad and his squad of assassins and that the Will of God prevails upon the Syrian crisis - a crisis abandoned by the West since it is not really financially profitable.
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(1) News Report
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Serbian Orthodox Church Rocked By Sex Scandal. (1)
The Serbian Orthodox Church has approved the resignation
of a powerful cleric amid sex-scandal claims that culminated
this week with the publication of a graphic video
appearing to show him engaged in sexual activity with young men.
Vasilije Kacavenda, the bishop of Tuzla and Zvornik in Bosnia-Herzegovina, retreated from his clerical duties months ago as allegations mounted that he had used his position for years to stage frequent orgies and rape underage boys and girls.
But the April 22 decision by the Holy Synod to accept his resignation appears to be the first acknowledgment of the church's growing unease with the crush of lurid accusations that seem better suited to Caligula's court than an Orthodox diocese.
Bojan Jovanovic, a former theological student in Bijeljina, the seat of Kacavenda’s diocese, says he observed numerous orgies organized by the 74-year-old bishop and attended by fellow clerics and prominent businessmen.
Jovanovic says Kacavenda personally appealed to him to supply young children for sexual purposes and frequently called on high-ranking church officials to organize trysts with young theological students.
Vasilije Kacavenda, the bishop of Tuzla and Zvornik in Bosnia-Herzegovina, retreated from his clerical duties months ago as allegations mounted that he had used his position for years to stage frequent orgies and rape underage boys and girls.
But the April 22 decision by the Holy Synod to accept his resignation appears to be the first acknowledgment of the church's growing unease with the crush of lurid accusations that seem better suited to Caligula's court than an Orthodox diocese.
Bojan Jovanovic, a former theological student in Bijeljina, the seat of Kacavenda’s diocese, says he observed numerous orgies organized by the 74-year-old bishop and attended by fellow clerics and prominent businessmen.
Jovanovic says Kacavenda personally appealed to him to supply young children for sexual purposes and frequently called on high-ranking church officials to organize trysts with young theological students.
miguel de Portugal comments: In case someone thought that evil was only running rampant in the West and in the Roman Catholic Church, the above news should dispel any notions of that. It is obvious that swine acting individuals are everywhere.
Be sure and take a look at the lavish, gilt-edged lifestyle of these filthy and revolting creatures.
Now then, what better object for our prayers than for the conversion of these swine acting clerics? And pray we must!
If you can sincerely pray for their conversion, then you are really making progress in imitating our Lord Jesus Christ.
_________________
(1) Radio Free Europe Reports
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Israeli official: Syria's Assad used chemical arms. (1)
A senior Israeli military intelligence official said on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar
Assad used chemical weapons last month in his battle
against insurgent groups.
Israel's assessment, based on visual evidence of alleged attacks, could raise pressure on the U.S. and other Western countries to intervene in the Syrian conflict. Britain and France recently announced that they had evidence that Assad's government had used chemical weapons.
Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, the head of research and analysis in Israeli military intelligence, told a security conference in Tel Aviv that Assad has used chemical weapons multiple times.
"To the best of our professional understanding, the regime used lethal chemical weapons against the militants in a series of incidents over the past months, including the relatively famous incident of March 19," Brun said. "Shrunken pupils, foaming at the mouth and other signs indicate, in our view, that lethal chemical weapons were used."
He said sarin, a lethal nerve agent, was probably used. He also said the Syrian regime was using less lethal chemical weapons, and that Russia has continued to arm the Syrian military with weapons such as advanced SA-17 air defense missiles.
"The fact that chemical weapons were used without an appropriate response is a very disturbing development because it could signal that such a thing is legitimate," he said.
Israel's assessment, based on visual evidence of alleged attacks, could raise pressure on the U.S. and other Western countries to intervene in the Syrian conflict. Britain and France recently announced that they had evidence that Assad's government had used chemical weapons.
Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, the head of research and analysis in Israeli military intelligence, told a security conference in Tel Aviv that Assad has used chemical weapons multiple times.
"To the best of our professional understanding, the regime used lethal chemical weapons against the militants in a series of incidents over the past months, including the relatively famous incident of March 19," Brun said. "Shrunken pupils, foaming at the mouth and other signs indicate, in our view, that lethal chemical weapons were used."
He said sarin, a lethal nerve agent, was probably used. He also said the Syrian regime was using less lethal chemical weapons, and that Russia has continued to arm the Syrian military with weapons such as advanced SA-17 air defense missiles.
"The fact that chemical weapons were used without an appropriate response is a very disturbing development because it could signal that such a thing is legitimate," he said.
miguel de Portugal comments: Recognizing the reality that "Charity starts at home" we still must ponder:
"Are the victims - specially the civilian victims (of any faith) - of Assad's atrocities less
loved by God than those massacred at Boston?"
"Why should He take special care to look upon our people when we allow such atrocities to be committed on a wholesale basis?"
"Why should He take special care to look upon our people when we allow such atrocities to be committed on a wholesale basis?"
Our leadership better ponder upon those questions very carefully. God is perfectly Just and only shows favor upon those who sincerely strive to live His Word and start his/her return to Him as the Prodigal Son did.
We can only lead the proverbial horse to the water but we cannot force the horse to drink!
Here is the reader's second great opportunity to show God that you love Him. Pray for the conversion of Assad and his squad of assassins and that the Will of God prevails upon the Syrian crisis - a crisis abandoned by the West since it is not really financially profitable.
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 3
[our highlights]
The Year (2012) in Hacking, by the Numbers. (1)
[our highlights]
The Year (2012) in Hacking, by the Numbers. (1)
Security experts like to say that there are now only two types of companies left in the United
States: those that have been hacked and those that don't know they’ve been hacked.
Their latest supporting evidence comes in the form of an annual Verizon report, which counted 621 confirmed data breaches last year, and more than 47,000 reported "security incidents." Those include distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks, in which hackers flood a site with traffic until it falls offline, but do not necessarily break into a company's network.
The victims spanned a wide range of industries. Thirty-seven percent of breached companies were financial firms; 24 percent were retailers and restaurants; 20 percent involved manufacturing, transportation and utility industries; and 20 percent of the breaches affected organizations that Verizon qualified as "information and professional services firms." (The totals exceed 100 percent because of rounding.)
Their latest supporting evidence comes in the form of an annual Verizon report, which counted 621 confirmed data breaches last year, and more than 47,000 reported "security incidents." Those include distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks, in which hackers flood a site with traffic until it falls offline, but do not necessarily break into a company's network.
The victims spanned a wide range of industries. Thirty-seven percent of breached companies were financial firms; 24 percent were retailers and restaurants; 20 percent involved manufacturing, transportation and utility industries; and 20 percent of the breaches affected organizations that Verizon qualified as "information and professional services firms." (The totals exceed 100 percent because of rounding.)
miguel de Portugal comments: The "security" of it all!
As we often say: In God we trust while every other security system is under suspicion.
Just wait until someone hacks Pay Pal and carts away the largest cache of credit card information in the world. Such a "plum" is just waiting to be picked.
_________________
(1) New York Times Reports
April 23rd, 2013 [Feast Day of St.
George]
Commenting About the Boston Massacre
Do not be surprised if we do not highlight any details about the recent Boston massacre and the mailing of poison containing envelopes.
To our eyes, there are enough similarities/parallelisms and number of incoherence with events like: The assassinations of JKF, RFK and Martin Luther King; the Oklahoma Bombing; and the 9-11 Events, anthrax envelope mailing included, to recognize that the same spirit and mentality are behind the Boston Massacre.
As any informed individual would acknowledge - there is enough confirmed information about the above listed events to debunk the official theories that, even if a tape recording of a discussion among those planning the events would surface, it would add nothing to what is already known and is being officially denied. (1)
Therefore, it would be a waste of our time to follow the staged developments of the Boston massacre.
It really does not matter any longer - the wheels of the Divine Chastisement are already in motion and nothing will stop them or delay them any more.
Commenting About the Boston Massacre
Do not be surprised if we do not highlight any details about the recent Boston massacre and the mailing of poison containing envelopes.
To our eyes, there are enough similarities/parallelisms and number of incoherence with events like: The assassinations of JKF, RFK and Martin Luther King; the Oklahoma Bombing; and the 9-11 Events, anthrax envelope mailing included, to recognize that the same spirit and mentality are behind the Boston Massacre.
As any informed individual would acknowledge - there is enough confirmed information about the above listed events to debunk the official theories that, even if a tape recording of a discussion among those planning the events would surface, it would add nothing to what is already known and is being officially denied. (1)
Therefore, it would be a waste of our time to follow the staged developments of the Boston massacre.
It really does not matter any longer - the wheels of the Divine Chastisement are already in motion and nothing will stop them or delay them any more.
_________________
(1) This statement does not mean that the U.S. government is behind such atrocities. It means that a non-partisan group with an agenda, which has been imbedded within the U.S. government for decades, is behind them all. We pray that all of our security agency members keep an eye open for individuals linked to said group who are, right now, in their very midst.
(1) This statement does not mean that the U.S. government is behind such atrocities. It means that a non-partisan group with an agenda, which has been imbedded within the U.S. government for decades, is behind them all. We pray that all of our security agency members keep an eye open for individuals linked to said group who are, right now, in their very midst.
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Google fined by German data protection agency for illegally recording unsecured WiFi info. (1)
miguel de Portugal comments: In spite of news like the above which seem to be regularly in the daily reports, anyone who is overly concerned about the lack of privacy - in all areas - in today's world is accused of being paranoiac.
___________________
(1) News Report
[our highlights]
Google fined by German data protection agency for illegally recording unsecured WiFi info. (1)
A German data protection agency fined Google Inc. 145,000 euros ($189,000)
for illegally recording information from unsecured
wireless networks - an amount it acknowledged is "totally inadequate" as a deterrent to the
multinational giant.
Hamburg's state data protection agency said Monday that Google admitted collecting data including emails, passwords, photos and chat protocols from 2008-2010 as it prepared to launch its Street View service. Google says it never intended to store personal data and the agency says it has been deleted.
Hamburg's state data protection agency said Monday that Google admitted collecting data including emails, passwords, photos and chat protocols from 2008-2010 as it prepared to launch its Street View service. Google says it never intended to store personal data and the agency says it has been deleted.
miguel de Portugal comments: In spite of news like the above which seem to be regularly in the daily reports, anyone who is overly concerned about the lack of privacy - in all areas - in today's world is accused of being paranoiac.
___________________
(1) News Report
April 22nd, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Russia asked FBI to investigate Boston bomb suspect in 2011. (1)
andNews Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Russia asked FBI to investigate Boston bomb suspect in 2011. (1)
Russia asked the FBI to investigate Boston Marathon bomb
suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011, a U.S. law enforcement source told Reuters on
Saturday.
The FBI said on Friday that its interview of Tsarnaev, following a tip from a foreign government two years ago, and checks of travel records, Internet activity and personal associations, "did not find any terrorism activity" at that time.
Tsarnaev, 26, was killed on Thursday in a shootout with police and his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was captured late on Friday after daylong manhunt.
The FBI said on Friday that its interview of Tsarnaev, following a tip from a foreign government two years ago, and checks of travel records, Internet activity and personal associations, "did not find any terrorism activity" at that time.
Tsarnaev, 26, was killed on Thursday in a shootout with police and his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was captured late on Friday after daylong manhunt.
Boston suspect was under FBI surveillance, mother says. (2)
One of the two ethnic Chechens suspected by U.S. officials of being behind the Boston Marathon
bombings had been under FBI surveillance for at least three years, his mother said.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva told the English-language Russia Today state television station in a phone interview, a recording of which was obtained by Reuters, that she believed her sons were innocent and had been framed.
"He (Tamerlan) was 'controlled' by the FBI, like, for three to five years," she said, speaking in English and using the direct English translation of a word in Russian that means monitored.
"They knew what my son was doing, they knew what sites on the Internet he was going to," she said in what Russia Today described as a call from Makhachkala, where she lives in Russia's Dagestan region after returning from the United States.
"I do not believe that my sons could have planned and organized the terrorist act, because they knew U.S. national security services were keeping an eye on them," Anzor Tsarnaev told Russia's Channel One television.
"They (the security services) said 'We know what you eat, what you read on the Internet'," he said, without making clear how the security officers had made contact.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva told the English-language Russia Today state television station in a phone interview, a recording of which was obtained by Reuters, that she believed her sons were innocent and had been framed.
"He (Tamerlan) was 'controlled' by the FBI, like, for three to five years," she said, speaking in English and using the direct English translation of a word in Russian that means monitored.
"They knew what my son was doing, they knew what sites on the Internet he was going to," she said in what Russia Today described as a call from Makhachkala, where she lives in Russia's Dagestan region after returning from the United States.
"I do not believe that my sons could have planned and organized the terrorist act, because they knew U.S. national security services were keeping an eye on them," Anzor Tsarnaev told Russia's Channel One television.
"They (the security services) said 'We know what you eat, what you read on the Internet'," he said, without making clear how the security officers had made contact.
miguel de Portugal comments: May the reader draw his/her own conclusions.
_________________
(1) News Report
(2) News Report
Commenting on a past News Report...
..... dated April 17th. We wrote:
The only
comment that we have at this time (regarding the Boston bombing) is that - in our opinion (just an
educated opinion) - it was a home made job by US local gun fanatics trying to neutralize any
law that may be in the making and that would limit gun ownership in the
US.
We need to clarify that statement in case someone sped-read it and came to the wrong conclusion:
Regarding the reference to "gun fanatics": Just like the term "religious fanatics" does not imply that all religious individuals (even the very devout ones) are fanatics, the term "gun fanatic" does not imply that all law abiding gun owners, hunters and marksmen are fanatics either. We regret if someone misunderstood such statement as an all encompassing generalization.
News Report No. 2
[conributor's highlights]
The very long list of recent earthquakes that have struck Chinaon April 20th should be noted:
[conributor's highlights]
The very long list of recent earthquakes that have struck Chinaon April 20th should be noted:
2.5 80km ESE of Old Iliamna, Alaska 2013-04-20 17:22:56 59.356°N 153.729°W 200.1
3.3 3km S of Delta, Mexico 2013-04-20 16:55:15 32.320°N 115.191°W 9.1
4.6 59km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 16:14:35 30.253°N 102.873°E 16.1
4.7 99km ESE of Khash, Iran 2013-04-20 15:37:14 28.013°N 62.202°E 30.2
4.4 10km NNE of Yerri, Spain 2013-04-20 15:18:22 42.793°N 1.899°W 25.4
2.5 14km NE of Pahala, Hawaii 2013-04-20 14:06:16 19.293°N 155.379°W 3.7
4.6 104km SE of Severo-Kuril'sk, Russia 2013-04-20 13:34:28 50.048°N 157.217°E 10.0
5.3 117km SE of Severo-Kuril'sk, Russia 2013-04-20 13:18:08 50.018°N 157.413°E 9.6
6.1 98km SE of Severo-Kuril'sk, Russia 2013-04-20 13:12:51 50.140°N 157.225°E 20.2
4.8 34km W of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 11:12:49 30.370°N 103.108°E 10.0
4.5 27km W of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 10:59:00 30.417°N 103.170°E 10.0
4.2 74km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador 2013-04-20 10:19:42 12.640°N 88.765°W 35.2
4.4 33km W of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 09:45:13 30.457°N 103.111°E 10.1
4.4 112km S of Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador 2013-04-20 09:33:37 12.281°N 88.708°W 35.2
4.5 80km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador 2013-04-20 08:55:45 12.571°N 88.700°W 35.2
4.6 158km SSW of Sungaipenuh, Indonesia 2013-04-20 07:47:00 3.355°S 100.728°E 39.4
4.6 39km W of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 07:18:32 30.385°N 103.054°E 10.1
3.0 40km WSW of Trinidad, Colorado 2013-04-20 06:47:16 36.982°N 104.889°W 5.0
4.6 38km SW of Kuripan, Indonesia 2013-04-20 06:35:53 5.310°S 103.557°E 69.2
2.6 50km SE of Old Iliamna, Alaska 2013-04-20 06:16:11 59.421°N 154.292°W 201.6
4.3 38km S of Cuajinicuilapa, Mexico 2013-04-20 05:19:43 16.119°N 98.404°W 18.6
2.7 36km ENE of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska 2013-04-20 05:18:38 60.631°N 152.153°W 86.7
5.4 145km WSW of Bouvet Island, Bouvet Island 2013-04-20 05:11:57 54.765°S 1.179°E 8.6
4.6 35km SSE of Cuajinicuilapa, Mexico 2013-04-20 05:05:12 16.159°N 98.315°W 9.7
5.7 221km NW of Saumlaki, Indonesia 2013-04-20 04:51:10 6.314°S 130.156°E 86.8
4.5 63km ENE of Su'ao, Taiwan 2013-04-20 04:36:29 24.802°N 122.435°E 125.9
5.6 76km S of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea 2013-04-20 03:42:03 5.037°S 152.142°E 72.6
5.1 57km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 03:34:16 30.181°N 102.928°E 12.3
4.6 36km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 02:38:35 30.260°N 103.129°E 12.1
4.5 42km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 02:19:04 30.297°N 103.040°E 12.4
5.1 46km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 01:37:28 30.283°N 103.001°E 12.0
4.6 41km WNW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 01:26:02 30.503°N 103.037°E 12.4
4.8 35km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 01:20:10 30.294°N 103.121°E 11.9
5.0 60km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 01:11:51 30.218°N 102.876°E 10.0
4.7 46km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 01:02:56 30.281°N 103.002°E 10.3
2.8 64km NW of Nikiski, Alaska 2013-04-20 00:45:54 61.025°N 152.258°W 134.3
4.8 42km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 00:37:11 30.275°N 103.045°E 10.1
4.8 31km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 00:31:36 30.352°N 103.142°E 10.0
3.1 9km NNE of East Foothills, California 2013-04-20 00:30:39 37.460°N 121.773°W 8.2
5.0 58km WSW of Kigorobya, Uganda 2013-04-20 00:30:29 1.496°N 30.795°E 23.2
6.6 50km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 00:02:47 30.284°N 102.956°E 12.3
3.3 3km S of Delta, Mexico 2013-04-20 16:55:15 32.320°N 115.191°W 9.1
4.6 59km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 16:14:35 30.253°N 102.873°E 16.1
4.7 99km ESE of Khash, Iran 2013-04-20 15:37:14 28.013°N 62.202°E 30.2
4.4 10km NNE of Yerri, Spain 2013-04-20 15:18:22 42.793°N 1.899°W 25.4
2.5 14km NE of Pahala, Hawaii 2013-04-20 14:06:16 19.293°N 155.379°W 3.7
4.6 104km SE of Severo-Kuril'sk, Russia 2013-04-20 13:34:28 50.048°N 157.217°E 10.0
5.3 117km SE of Severo-Kuril'sk, Russia 2013-04-20 13:18:08 50.018°N 157.413°E 9.6
6.1 98km SE of Severo-Kuril'sk, Russia 2013-04-20 13:12:51 50.140°N 157.225°E 20.2
4.8 34km W of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 11:12:49 30.370°N 103.108°E 10.0
4.5 27km W of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 10:59:00 30.417°N 103.170°E 10.0
4.2 74km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador 2013-04-20 10:19:42 12.640°N 88.765°W 35.2
4.4 33km W of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 09:45:13 30.457°N 103.111°E 10.1
4.4 112km S of Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador 2013-04-20 09:33:37 12.281°N 88.708°W 35.2
4.5 80km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador 2013-04-20 08:55:45 12.571°N 88.700°W 35.2
4.6 158km SSW of Sungaipenuh, Indonesia 2013-04-20 07:47:00 3.355°S 100.728°E 39.4
4.6 39km W of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 07:18:32 30.385°N 103.054°E 10.1
3.0 40km WSW of Trinidad, Colorado 2013-04-20 06:47:16 36.982°N 104.889°W 5.0
4.6 38km SW of Kuripan, Indonesia 2013-04-20 06:35:53 5.310°S 103.557°E 69.2
2.6 50km SE of Old Iliamna, Alaska 2013-04-20 06:16:11 59.421°N 154.292°W 201.6
4.3 38km S of Cuajinicuilapa, Mexico 2013-04-20 05:19:43 16.119°N 98.404°W 18.6
2.7 36km ENE of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska 2013-04-20 05:18:38 60.631°N 152.153°W 86.7
5.4 145km WSW of Bouvet Island, Bouvet Island 2013-04-20 05:11:57 54.765°S 1.179°E 8.6
4.6 35km SSE of Cuajinicuilapa, Mexico 2013-04-20 05:05:12 16.159°N 98.315°W 9.7
5.7 221km NW of Saumlaki, Indonesia 2013-04-20 04:51:10 6.314°S 130.156°E 86.8
4.5 63km ENE of Su'ao, Taiwan 2013-04-20 04:36:29 24.802°N 122.435°E 125.9
5.6 76km S of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea 2013-04-20 03:42:03 5.037°S 152.142°E 72.6
5.1 57km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 03:34:16 30.181°N 102.928°E 12.3
4.6 36km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 02:38:35 30.260°N 103.129°E 12.1
4.5 42km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 02:19:04 30.297°N 103.040°E 12.4
5.1 46km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 01:37:28 30.283°N 103.001°E 12.0
4.6 41km WNW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 01:26:02 30.503°N 103.037°E 12.4
4.8 35km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 01:20:10 30.294°N 103.121°E 11.9
5.0 60km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 01:11:51 30.218°N 102.876°E 10.0
4.7 46km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 01:02:56 30.281°N 103.002°E 10.3
2.8 64km NW of Nikiski, Alaska 2013-04-20 00:45:54 61.025°N 152.258°W 134.3
4.8 42km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 00:37:11 30.275°N 103.045°E 10.1
4.8 31km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 00:31:36 30.352°N 103.142°E 10.0
3.1 9km NNE of East Foothills, California 2013-04-20 00:30:39 37.460°N 121.773°W 8.2
5.0 58km WSW of Kigorobya, Uganda 2013-04-20 00:30:29 1.496°N 30.795°E 23.2
6.6 50km WSW of Linqiong, China 2013-04-20 00:02:47 30.284°N 102.956°E 12.3
April 20th, 2013
Emergency Advisory
[courtesy of US.gov Team]
Weather emergencies, such as tornadoes, floods, and lightning, can occur without a lot of warning. However, you can prepare for different types of severe weather.
One of the basic recommendations to help you prepare for any emergency is to assemble a disaster supplies kit, which includes water, food, a first-aid kit, and many other items.
Knowing what to do in different circumstances may save your life and the lives of others.
[courtesy of US.gov Team]
Weather emergencies, such as tornadoes, floods, and lightning, can occur without a lot of warning. However, you can prepare for different types of severe weather.
One of the basic recommendations to help you prepare for any emergency is to assemble a disaster supplies kit, which includes water, food, a first-aid kit, and many other items.
Knowing what to do in different circumstances may save your life and the lives of others.
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
There was a secret meeting between Julian Assange (of Wikileaks fame) and Google CEO Eric Schmidt. (1)
On the 23 of June, 2011, a secret five hour meeting took
place between WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, who was under house arrest in rural UK at
the time, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Also in attendance was Jared Cohen, a former Secretary of State advisor to Hillary Clinton and Lisa Shields of the Council for Foreign Relations.
Schmidt and Cohen requested the meeting, they said, to discuss ideas for "The New Digital World", their forthcoming book to be published on April 23, 2013.
Also in attendance was Jared Cohen, a former Secretary of State advisor to Hillary Clinton and Lisa Shields of the Council for Foreign Relations.
Schmidt and Cohen requested the meeting, they said, to discuss ideas for "The New Digital World", their forthcoming book to be published on April 23, 2013.
Through the New York Times Wikileaks provides a verbatim transcript of the majority of the meeting. A close reading, particularly of the latter half, is revealing.
miguel de Portugal comments: We have not read the transcript. The link is provided should any of our readers wish to review it.
April 19th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Are the European austerity programs based on an Excel error?
(1)
The economic theory underpinning
austerity policies being followed by governments world wide
may be flawed.
That is the allegation made in a study by the University of Massachusetts. It claims to have found coding errors on the Excel spreadsheet used by the academics who produced the theory which could invalidate their conclusions.
It was economists Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart who found that economic growth normally slows when a government’s debt exceeds 90 per cent of the country’s annual economic output.
The observation and the subsequent conclusion that countries must cut public spending has meant hardship for millions. Policy makers around the world have imposed austerity measures in a desperate bid to ensure a growing economy.
However analysts do not expect government to the discard the theory as the saying 'you should not spend more than you earn' rings true.
That is the allegation made in a study by the University of Massachusetts. It claims to have found coding errors on the Excel spreadsheet used by the academics who produced the theory which could invalidate their conclusions.
It was economists Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart who found that economic growth normally slows when a government’s debt exceeds 90 per cent of the country’s annual economic output.
The observation and the subsequent conclusion that countries must cut public spending has meant hardship for millions. Policy makers around the world have imposed austerity measures in a desperate bid to ensure a growing economy.
However analysts do not expect government to the discard the theory as the saying 'you should not spend more than you earn' rings true.
Even though...
Reinhart and Rogoff have admitted to a "coding error" in the spreadsheet that meant some countries were omitted from their calculations. But the economists denied they selectively omitted data or that they used a questionable methodology. (2)
miguel de Portugal comments: Am not surprised at all!
Allow us another trip down "Memory Lane".
When I graduated as a Chemical Engineering - all calculations used in the design of all chemical processing equipment were done by hand using a slide rule and a none electric calculator (to add, subtract, multiply and divide - Period!)
This required a very intimate knowledge of the theory behind all designs. Then came computers and the "new and improved" engineers were using more and more the computers. By 1970 a word had already been coined to to explain the reasons for faulty designs: "GIGO" - Garbage In (the computer) - Garbage Out (the computer).
By 1980 the new wave of "engineers" were great with computers, but vastly ignorant at the fundamental theories behind the designs. Therefore, when in their ignorance of fundamental theories they fed the computer "Garbage", the output of the computer would also be "Garbage". Not having enough technical sense to spot the "Garbage", they would use the results. "If it came out of the computer, it had to be right" - they thought and argued.
In case you doubt my word, take a look at a news report (below) from September 30, 1999
_________________
(1) EuroNews Reports
(2) Reuters Reports
News Report No. 2 (from September 30, 1999)
[our highlights]
Metric mishap caused loss of NASA orbiter. (1)
NASA's Climate Orbiter was lost September 23, 1999
NASA lost a $125 million Mars orbiter because a Lockheed Martin engineering team used English units of measurement while the agency's team used the more conventional metric system for a key spacecraft operation, according to a review finding released Thursday.
The units mismatch prevented navigation information from transferring between the Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft team in at Lockheed Martin in Denver and the flight team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
NASA lost a $125 million Mars orbiter because a Lockheed Martin engineering team used English units of measurement while the agency's team used the more conventional metric system for a key spacecraft operation, according to a review finding released Thursday.
The units mismatch prevented navigation information from transferring between the Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft team in at Lockheed Martin in Denver and the flight team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
April 18th, 2013
It was certainly News to us that....
[our highlights]
It was certainly News to us that....
[our highlights]
John Paul II and Benedict XVI have appointed Jesuits to powerful positions in the Church. (1)
John Paul II appointed Roberto Tucci, S.J., to the College of Cardinals,
after serving as the chief organizer of papal trips and
public events.
Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have
appointed 10 Jesuit Cardinals to notable
jobs.
Benedict XVI appointed Jesuits to notable positions in his curia, such as
Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, S.J. as Secretary of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and
Rev. Federico Lombardi, S.J.,
Vatican Press Secretary.
Pope Paul VI entrusted the Society of Jesus with the mission of combating atheism in the modern world. Pope Paul's charge, which came at the outset of the Order's 31st General Congregation in 1965.
Some highlights of Paul VI's charge follow: (2)
We gladly take this opportunity to lay serious stress, however briefly, on a matter of grave
importance: We mean the fearful danger of atheism threatening human society.
....
It is the special characteristic of the Society of Jesus to be champion of the Church and holy religion in adversity. To it We give the charge of making a stout, united stand against atheism, under the leadership, and with the help of St. Michael, prince of the heavenly host. His very name is the thunder-peal or token of victory.
......
We bid the companions of Ignatius to muster all their courage and fight this good fight, making all the necessary plans for a well-organized and successful campaign.
.....
You will carry it out with greater readiness and enthusiasm if you keep in mind that this work in which you are now engaged and to which you will apply yourselves in the future with renewed vigor is not something arbitrarily taken up by you, but a task solemnly entrusted to you by the Church and by the Supreme Pontiff.
....
It is the special characteristic of the Society of Jesus to be champion of the Church and holy religion in adversity. To it We give the charge of making a stout, united stand against atheism, under the leadership, and with the help of St. Michael, prince of the heavenly host. His very name is the thunder-peal or token of victory.
......
We bid the companions of Ignatius to muster all their courage and fight this good fight, making all the necessary plans for a well-organized and successful campaign.
.....
You will carry it out with greater readiness and enthusiasm if you keep in mind that this work in which you are now engaged and to which you will apply yourselves in the future with renewed vigor is not something arbitrarily taken up by you, but a task solemnly entrusted to you by the Church and by the Supreme Pontiff.
miguel de Portugal comments:
Considering that Francis is the first Jesuit ever elected as the Bishop of Rome, all of the above
seems very interesting, to say the least.
(1) Source
(2) Source
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
American Airlines reservations system down, flights grounded nationwide. (1)
American Airlines flights across the country are
grounded because of computer problems.
American asked the Federal Aviation Administration to halt its flights until 5 p.m. EDT.
Flights on regional affiliate American Eagle heading to Dallas, Chicago or New York's LaGuardia Airport have been stopped until 3:30 p.m. EDT.
Some passengers are stuck on planes while others can't make reservations.
American asked the Federal Aviation Administration to halt its flights until 5 p.m. EDT.
Flights on regional affiliate American Eagle heading to Dallas, Chicago or New York's LaGuardia Airport have been stopped until 3:30 p.m. EDT.
Some passengers are stuck on planes while others can't make reservations.
miguel de Portugal comments: Those news are nothing new to our readers - we are sure that you have heard about it many times.
Our point is to remind everyone - again - about how computer dependent we are and how can a major airline can be shut down by a computer glitch - natural or man made.
Do not count on man made high tech devices in an emergency.... count on God.
_________________
(1) News Report
April 17th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Catholic Religious Orders' abuse files may go
public. (1)
Less than three months after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles released
the files of priests accused of sex abuse, attorneys for alleged victims are back in court seeking
similar records kept by more than a dozen religious orders.
A hearing Tuesday will begin the process of determining if - and in what form - the records kept by religious orders such as the Jesuits, Vincentians, Salesians and Dominicans, among others, will be made public.
Ray Boucher, a coordinating attorney for the plaintiffs, said the records kept on accused priests by the religious orders are critical to understanding the scope of the sex abuse scandal and the internal dynamics that contributed to it.
Franciscan files released last year revealed a pervasive culture of abuse over generations at a Santa Barbara seminary dedicated to training future Franciscans. The file included a rarely seen "sexual history" written by one priest for a therapy session that detailed how he formed a boys' choir and selected his victims from among its ranks.
Religious orders whose files will be discussed at the hearing include small groups such as the Piarist Fathers and larger, more well-known organizations such as the Jesuits and Dominicans.
A hearing Tuesday will begin the process of determining if - and in what form - the records kept by religious orders such as the Jesuits, Vincentians, Salesians and Dominicans, among others, will be made public.
Ray Boucher, a coordinating attorney for the plaintiffs, said the records kept on accused priests by the religious orders are critical to understanding the scope of the sex abuse scandal and the internal dynamics that contributed to it.
Franciscan files released last year revealed a pervasive culture of abuse over generations at a Santa Barbara seminary dedicated to training future Franciscans. The file included a rarely seen "sexual history" written by one priest for a therapy session that detailed how he formed a boys' choir and selected his victims from among its ranks.
Religious orders whose files will be discussed at the hearing include small groups such as the Piarist Fathers and larger, more well-known organizations such as the Jesuits and Dominicans.
miguel de Portugal comments:
How can anyone believe that the Superiors of these orders believe in God? Jesus could not have
been clearer about this problem and its consequences. The abusers are to be
taken out of circulation and treated; their
Superiors should serve time behind bars, just like all the Successors of Judas Iscariot should;
they are the real criminals.
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Violence against women: "We can't take it anymore" (1)
(1) News Report
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Violence against women: "We can't take it anymore" (1)
It is estimated that up to 70 percent of women are the
victims of violence at some point in their lives.
It is a massive problem that governments are
struggling to address, with help organisations calling for better prevention programmes and
support services.
Governments are under pressure to tackle all kinds of gender-based attacks including domestic violence, but also rapes and sexual assaults and the likes of trafficking and forced marriages.
Governments are under pressure to tackle all kinds of gender-based attacks including domestic violence, but also rapes and sexual assaults and the likes of trafficking and forced marriages.
miguel de Portugal comments: I wonder how fast that percentage would drop if a saturation publicity campaign were to be launched - on a worldwide scale - pointing out to men that the more they abuse or desire to abuse a woman, the more they are proclaiming to the world that they are very insecure males.
All that men are doing when they abuse women is making up for their total lack of male self worth.
Once they become aware that "their slip is showing", so to speak, they will make a very great effort to stop. The implied public shame will "do the trick".
Do you have any idea how fast this societal scourge would be reduced if every man convicted of abusing a woman would have to wear a scarlet "A" on his forehead for whatever length of time the judge determined.
Do you know what brought to a screeching halt the passing bad checks in the Houston Metroplex, a practice that had reached a scandalous level back in the eighties? A very simple solution: The bounced checks were placed on a bulletin board on the checkout lanes of the stores so that the offenders could conveniently stop by and pick them up with cash in their hands. Considering that the checks had the name, address and phone number of the offender for all to see, they would be picked up very, very quickly. End of problem!
________________
(1) News Report
Regarding the Boston Tragedy News Reports
The only comment that we have at this time is that - in our opinion (just an educated opinion) - it was a home made job by US local gun fanatics trying to neutralize any law that may be in the making and that would limit gun ownership in the US.
We encourage prayers for the souls of the deceased as well as for the recovery of the wounded - without forgetting the criminals, just as Jesus Christ taught His followers to do.
NOTE Added on April 21, 2003: Regarding the
reference to "gun fanatics" - Just like the term "religious fanatics" does not imply that
all religious individuals (even the very devout ones) are fanatics, the term "gun fanatic"
does not imply that all law abiding gun owners, hunters and marksmen are fanatics. We
regret if someone misunderstood such statement as an all encompassing generalization.
April 16th, 2013
News Advisory
[Courtesy of usa.gov]
News Report No. 1
[contributors' highlights, comments and references]
News Advisory
[Courtesy of usa.gov]
If a disaster struck your neighborhood, you would only have seconds or minutes to
react.
Is that enough time to find your homeowners insurance policy, bank account information, or backup your financial software?
These 4 steps can help you - financially - prepare for a disaster.
miguel de Portugal comments:
Let's not leave for later what we will not be able to do then.
News Report No. 1
[contributors' highlights, comments and references]
Pope Francis sets up a group of eight cardinals to advise him.
(1)
Francis has taken a most significant decision by setting up a group of eight cardinals from all
continents to advise him in governing the Catholic Church and reforming the Roman
Curia
In a highly significant and ground-breaking move, indicating a new, more collegial style of leadership, Pope Francis has chosen a group of eight cardinals, from all continents and the Roman Curia, to act as his special advisors in governing the Catholic Church and reforming the Roman Curia.
The Vatican revealed the names of the eight cardinals chosen by Pope
Francis:
- AFRICA: Cardinal Laurent Monswengo Pasinya, 73, archbishop of Kinshasha in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, former president of SECAM (the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (1997-2003) and co-president of Pax Christi International (2007-2009); (2)
- ASIA: Cardinal Oswald Gracias, 68, archbishop of Bombay, India, the current President of the FABC, the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences; (3)
- EUROPE: Cardinal Reinhard Marx, 69, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, in the Federal Republic of Germany; Since 2012 he has been president of COMECE - the Bishops Conferences of the European Community; (4)
- LATIN AMERICA: Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, 79, emeritus Archbishop of Santiago de Chile, Chile, he was president of CELAM - the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Latin America ( 2003-2007); (5)
- NORTH AMERICA: Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley, OFM, 66, archbishop of Boston, US Bishops Conference; (6)
- OCEANIA: Cardinal George Pell, 71, the archbishop of Sydney, Australia; (7)
- ROMAN CURIA: Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, 70, the Italian-born Holy See diplomat and currently President of the Governorate of the Vatican City State; (8)
- COORDINATOR: Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B.,70, archbishop of Tegucigapla, Honduras, will coordinate the Group. (9)
- SECRETARY: Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano diocese, Italy, will serve as the secretary of the group.
[Contributor's comments:
Pell is in the Opus Dei camp. Maradiaga has made some unfortunate comments
in the past about very sensitive matters.]
In the pre-conclave meetings, several cardinals spoke about the challenges the new pope would face in governing the Catholic Church and reforming the Roman Curia. Some suggested that it would be good if the new pope could develop a more collegial system of government... Pope Francis listened carefully and has taken the decision to establish a group of eight to act as his counselors.
Pope Francis is a man of government. He knows how to take decisions, as his performance as Jesuit superior and later archbishop bishop in Argentina has shown. Now he brings that skill to the Vatican, where it is much needed.
An analysis of the eight cardinals chosen shows that seven have wide pastoral experience in governing dioceses and one is an experienced Holy See diplomat; they bring with them a rich and diverse field experience. They are not all like-minded men, and that too is a point in his favor. As in Buenos Aires, so too in Rome, he does not want to surround himself with "Yes" men, he wants to avoid the "Groupthink" syndrome.
Pope Francis is already in contact with the cardinals, and the Group will meet for the first time on October 1-3, the Vatican said.
miguel de Portugal comments: Stay tuned....
_________________
(1) Source
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Monsengwo_Pasinya
(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Gracias
(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Marx
(5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Javier_Err%C3%A1zuriz_Ossa
(6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Se%C3%A1n_Patrick_O'Malley
(7) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pell
(8) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Bertello
(9) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Andr%C3%A9s_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Maradiaga
April 15th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Opus Dei Spanish Minister of the Interior probes police over sister act. (1)
miguel de Portugal comments: Perhaps Minister Fernández Díaz should no be judged so hastly.
The general public does not have all the facts. We can oicture/imagine a cloistered elderly nun be really traumatized if ordered to uncover her face/head. Therefore, if that was the case, her report to her superior would have been colored by such trauma. Also, there is a great anti Catholic Church spirit in Spain. How many countries do you know where Church members take their parish authorities to court to force them to actually remove their names from the Baptismal Records? Such attitude could have colored how the nun was treated.
Anyone familiar with us know that we are not "Opus Dei lovers", but one must have all the facts before making "a case" out of an incident which may have been just a misunderstanding - as it was obviously proven to be.
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Pope Francis asks Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon to consecrate his pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima. (1)
miguel de Portugal comments: Although it sounds very moving and very proper, the theo-truth is that such consecration is not possible. Only Francis can consecrate his term of office to Our Lady of Fatima. No one else can do so.
Yes indeed, anyone can pray for an illuminated and productive term of office. To have the whole Bishops Conference of Portugal pray for this purpose would be commendable, but that is about all they can do.
The only valid "Consecrations by proxy" that we are aware of are: (a) Consecrating one's child to God or Mary; (b) Or, in a generalized manner, for those who, due to their ignorance or failed Evangelization effort, will not do it and, if they had known, they would have done it.
On another matter. Cardinal Policarpo states that "This Pope is a sign of hope!", which infers that the last one was not. Interesting, isn't it?
_________________
(1) Fatima Sanctuary News
News Report No. 3
[our highlights]
NSA dismisses claims Utah Data Center watches average Americans. (1)
miguel de Portugal comments: Frankly, I rather have our government do it for security reasons than Google and others for profit. (2)
Of course, NSA data could fall in the wrong hands like the enormous amount of classified information that found its way to Wikileaks but, as the saying goes: "I rather take my chances with our government" as opposed to with for-profit undercover data miners and hackers.
For the scientific minded reader, we recommend a review of the Scientific American June 20, 2012, article titled "How to Teach Computers to Learn on Their Own - New techniques for teaching computers how to learn are beating the experts". (3) (4) The article is about teaching computers, however, what we want to point out to our readers is - Where is the information being taught coming from?
You will then see that, practically, short of one's DNA "they" have just about everything they need to know about the average Internet visitor. What is even worse - you will learn how "your next move" can be predicted with frightening accuracy based on what "they" may already have on you.
That is why our Utah Data Center is not such an earthshaking violation of our privacy.
_________________
(1) FoxNews Reports
(2) Take a look
(3) Abstract of Article
(4) If you are serious about understanding this matter Click Here
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Opus Dei Spanish Minister of the Interior probes police over sister act. (1)
Many Spaniards are questioning the motives of Interior
Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz after his office called up police officers who had asked a nun to
remove her headgear during an ID check.
The seemingly minor incident occurred last February when a nun in the town of Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid) was renewing her ID at her local police station. To confirm that the sister had indeed provided a photo of herself, police officers asked her to remove her headgear to make her face visible, as common protocol stipulates.
News of the routine check somehow went on to reach the archbishopric and then the upper echelons of Spain's interior ministry. Interior Minister Férnandez Díaz, himself a devout Catholic and member of the influential religious group Opus Dei, then ordered an investigation into the
matter.
When the policemen who asked the sister to remove her veil were questioned, the ministry established that the agents had indeed behaved in the appropriate manner.
What has shocked the Spanish public is the importance given to the incident.
The seemingly minor incident occurred last February when a nun in the town of Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid) was renewing her ID at her local police station. To confirm that the sister had indeed provided a photo of herself, police officers asked her to remove her headgear to make her face visible, as common protocol stipulates.
News of the routine check somehow went on to reach the archbishopric and then the upper echelons of Spain's interior ministry. Interior Minister Férnandez Díaz, himself a devout Catholic and member of the influential religious group Opus Dei, then ordered an investigation into the
matter.
When the policemen who asked the sister to remove her veil were questioned, the ministry established that the agents had indeed behaved in the appropriate manner.
What has shocked the Spanish public is the importance given to the incident.
miguel de Portugal comments: Perhaps Minister Fernández Díaz should no be judged so hastly.
The general public does not have all the facts. We can oicture/imagine a cloistered elderly nun be really traumatized if ordered to uncover her face/head. Therefore, if that was the case, her report to her superior would have been colored by such trauma. Also, there is a great anti Catholic Church spirit in Spain. How many countries do you know where Church members take their parish authorities to court to force them to actually remove their names from the Baptismal Records? Such attitude could have colored how the nun was treated.
Anyone familiar with us know that we are not "Opus Dei lovers", but one must have all the facts before making "a case" out of an incident which may have been just a misunderstanding - as it was obviously proven to be.
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Pope Francis asks Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon to consecrate his pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima. (1)
Pope Francis asked, on two different occasions, His
Eminence José Policarpo, Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon and President of the Bishops Conference of
Portugal, to consecrate his Petrine Ministry to Our Lady of Fatima.
The revelation was made by Cardinal Policarpo on the afternoon of April 8, at the Shrine of Fatima, during the opening remarks of the 181st Plenary Assembly of the Bishops Conference of Portugal (CEP).
Towards the end of the opening speech, Cardinal Policarpo revealed: "Pope Francis has asked me twice to consecrate his new ministry to Our Lady of Fatima. It is a command I can fulfill in silent prayer. But it would be nice if the whole Bishops Conference joined me in fulfilling this request. Mary will guide us in all our work and also in the way we may fulfill this desire of Pope Francis".
The Plenary Assembly runs through April 11 at the Retreat House of Our Lady of Sorrows. The President of CEP focused his opening speech on two events: the Resurrection of Christ and the election of Pope Francis.
"This Pope is a sign of hope!" Cardinal Policarpo Says
The revelation was made by Cardinal Policarpo on the afternoon of April 8, at the Shrine of Fatima, during the opening remarks of the 181st Plenary Assembly of the Bishops Conference of Portugal (CEP).
Towards the end of the opening speech, Cardinal Policarpo revealed: "Pope Francis has asked me twice to consecrate his new ministry to Our Lady of Fatima. It is a command I can fulfill in silent prayer. But it would be nice if the whole Bishops Conference joined me in fulfilling this request. Mary will guide us in all our work and also in the way we may fulfill this desire of Pope Francis".
The Plenary Assembly runs through April 11 at the Retreat House of Our Lady of Sorrows. The President of CEP focused his opening speech on two events: the Resurrection of Christ and the election of Pope Francis.
"This Pope is a sign of hope!" Cardinal Policarpo Says
miguel de Portugal comments: Although it sounds very moving and very proper, the theo-truth is that such consecration is not possible. Only Francis can consecrate his term of office to Our Lady of Fatima. No one else can do so.
Yes indeed, anyone can pray for an illuminated and productive term of office. To have the whole Bishops Conference of Portugal pray for this purpose would be commendable, but that is about all they can do.
The only valid "Consecrations by proxy" that we are aware of are: (a) Consecrating one's child to God or Mary; (b) Or, in a generalized manner, for those who, due to their ignorance or failed Evangelization effort, will not do it and, if they had known, they would have done it.
On another matter. Cardinal Policarpo states that "This Pope is a sign of hope!", which infers that the last one was not. Interesting, isn't it?
_________________
(1) Fatima Sanctuary News
News Report No. 3
[our highlights]
NSA dismisses claims Utah Data Center watches average Americans. (1)
What would you think if someone told you personal
emails, voicemails and web searches, basically your electronic footprint, could be viewed and
stored by a government official? The feds say that would never happen but some say it is,
and by 2013 it will all be funneled into the Utah Data Center.
A more formal description of the center is the First Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cyber-security Initiative Data Center.
It is not a stretch to say Utah is quickly becoming the data center capitol of the U.S., especially now that the state will be home to what some say is one the largest spy centers in the nation. Plans for the facility are nothing new. ...So why is it making headlines now?
In a bombshell article published this month in WIRED Magazine, author James Bamford interviews a whistleblower claiming the NSA has software that searches domestic folks. This software can reveal everything from target addresses, to web searches to social media sites to email and phone calls.
It claims any communication that looks suspicious are automatically red flagged. Basically, we're all at risk for being watched. The response from the NSA? That's simply, not true. "Many allegations have been made about the planned activities of the Utah Data Center," NSA public information officer Vanee' Vines wrote in an email.
"What it will be is a state-of-the-art facility designed to support the Intelligence Community's efforts to further strengthen and protect the nation. NSA is the executive agent for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and will be the lead agency at the center," she said.
A more formal description of the center is the First Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cyber-security Initiative Data Center.
It is not a stretch to say Utah is quickly becoming the data center capitol of the U.S., especially now that the state will be home to what some say is one the largest spy centers in the nation. Plans for the facility are nothing new. ...So why is it making headlines now?
In a bombshell article published this month in WIRED Magazine, author James Bamford interviews a whistleblower claiming the NSA has software that searches domestic folks. This software can reveal everything from target addresses, to web searches to social media sites to email and phone calls.
It claims any communication that looks suspicious are automatically red flagged. Basically, we're all at risk for being watched. The response from the NSA? That's simply, not true. "Many allegations have been made about the planned activities of the Utah Data Center," NSA public information officer Vanee' Vines wrote in an email.
"What it will be is a state-of-the-art facility designed to support the Intelligence Community's efforts to further strengthen and protect the nation. NSA is the executive agent for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and will be the lead agency at the center," she said.
miguel de Portugal comments: Frankly, I rather have our government do it for security reasons than Google and others for profit. (2)
Of course, NSA data could fall in the wrong hands like the enormous amount of classified information that found its way to Wikileaks but, as the saying goes: "I rather take my chances with our government" as opposed to with for-profit undercover data miners and hackers.
For the scientific minded reader, we recommend a review of the Scientific American June 20, 2012, article titled "How to Teach Computers to Learn on Their Own - New techniques for teaching computers how to learn are beating the experts". (3) (4) The article is about teaching computers, however, what we want to point out to our readers is - Where is the information being taught coming from?
You will then see that, practically, short of one's DNA "they" have just about everything they need to know about the average Internet visitor. What is even worse - you will learn how "your next move" can be predicted with frightening accuracy based on what "they" may already have on you.
That is why our Utah Data Center is not such an earthshaking violation of our privacy.
_________________
(1) FoxNews Reports
(2) Take a look
(3) Abstract of Article
(4) If you are serious about understanding this matter Click Here
April 13th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
North Korea: Birthday celebrations with a nuclear bang? (1)
Monday, April 15 is what would have been North Korean leader Kim Il-sung's 105th birthday. It is
also the day Seoul is bracing itself for a missile test in the North.
The commemorations of Kim Il-sung's birthday are usually a time for attention-grabbing military parades and there was a failed satellite launch around the same time last year.
The commemorations of Kim Il-sung's birthday are usually a time for attention-grabbing military parades and there was a failed satellite launch around the same time last year.
miguel de Portugal comments: Would not be surprised, even if their young leader see it as a suicidal move. He has to do something; he cannot afford to lose face before his people.
__________________
(1) EuroNews Reports
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Gold, long a secure investment, loses its luster. (1)
Below the streets of Lower Manhattan, in the vault of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the
world's largest trove of gold - half a million bars - has lost about $75 billion of its value. In
Fort Knox, Ky., at the United States Bullion Depository, the damage totals $50 billion.
.....
Granted, gold has gone through booms and busts before, including at least two from its peak in 1980, when it traded at $835, to its high in 2011. And anyone who bought gold in 1999 and held on has done far better than the average stock market investor. Even after the recent decline, gold is still up 515 percent.
.....
Granted, gold has gone through booms and busts before, including at least two from its peak in 1980, when it traded at $835, to its high in 2011. And anyone who bought gold in 1999 and held on has done far better than the average stock market investor. Even after the recent decline, gold is still up 515 percent.
miguel de Portugal comments: Just to show you how careful one has to be when reading information published in the most revered sources....
If we adjust (2) the gold price to the value of the dollar, gold price has not even been close to its high in 1980. In 1980 gold peaked at $835 which would be $2,352.65 today.
Today's market price, $1,559.61/oz, rolled back to 1980 dollars would only be: $553.53/oz
Needless to say, the rest of the conclusions reached by the columnist may be just as flawed, considering that he responded to our comments as follows: "We were aware of that but probably should have been more explicit about it in the story."
_________________
(1) NYT Reports
(2) Source of dollar conversion
[our highlights]
Spain: New law protects Andalusia's vulnerable from eviction. (1)
A left wing regional government in Spain has approved a
law that will stop banks from repossessing homes from the most needy people, even if there is an
eviction notice. Spain's dire economic crisis has sent unemployment rocketing, and with it
arrears on rents and mortgages.
Elena Cortés, the regional housing minister said: "To have justice, and to avoid suffering, the change needs to be radical because we are going to the root of the problem. There are now 45 evictions a day in Andalusia, and there are between 700,000 and one million empty homes because of excessive commercialism that reduces a house to just a financial product and something to be speculated on."
In Madrid, a member of Spain's General Council of the Judiciary, Gabriela Bravo, said it was positive that the regional government was raising awareness about social exclusion that is making people homeless. "A home is a fundamental right," she said.
Elena Cortés, the regional housing minister said: "To have justice, and to avoid suffering, the change needs to be radical because we are going to the root of the problem. There are now 45 evictions a day in Andalusia, and there are between 700,000 and one million empty homes because of excessive commercialism that reduces a house to just a financial product and something to be speculated on."
In Madrid, a member of Spain's General Council of the Judiciary, Gabriela Bravo, said it was positive that the regional government was raising awareness about social exclusion that is making people homeless. "A home is a fundamental right," she said.
miguel de Portugal comments: First, know that if you are evicted in Spain because you cannot pay your mortgage, you still owe the money!!
Secondly, after reviewing a sampling of some of the loan conditions and the financial state of the borrowers in question, it is obvious that what the banks were doing was squeezing whatever they could (in down payment, plus a few monthly payments) from their victims, throw them out, keep the property (to resell it) and make the evictees still pay the loan - even if the bank resold the property.
In most cases of the sampling reviewed, the finances of these individuals were so flimsy that they could not have been able to lease - not buy, just lease - a reasonable apartment in Houston. Now imagine bamboozling them to buy properties in excess of 200,000 US dollars!
_________________
(1) Euronews Reports
April 12th, 2013
Hot Off the Press
The Christian Science Monitor claims that... (1)
But, almost simultaneously, the White House announces that.... (2)
miguel de Portugal comments: As the decades old and much used phrase implies: "Houston, we have a problem!"
We live submerged in a sea of lies
Now then, do you really see why we keep "harping on" the fact that without a working relationship with the Holy Spirit of God anyone is lost?
In case that you have forgotten how this "working relationship with the Holy Spirit of God" is achieved, allow us to remind you: A well established and ample prayer life. There is no other way.
________________________________
(1) CSM Reports
(2) DOD Reports
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Women arrested for praying out loud at Jerusalem's sacred Western Wall. (1)
miguel de Portugal comments: Although we do not agree with such law, it is a State Law. Therefore, it should be obeyed while they silently pray before the Wall so that such sexist law be changed.
_________________
(1) Euronews Reports
Hot Off the Press
The Christian Science Monitor claims that... (1)
Lawmaker drops bombshell: North Korea may have nuclear missiles
An unclassified Pentagon report not yet released to the public suggests that North Korea can arm missiles with nuclear warheads, a lawmaker revealed Thursday. The results of a classified Defense Intelligence Agency report indicate that "North Korea now has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles."
It came when Rep. Doug Lamborn (R) of Colorado began quoting from what he said was an unclassified version of the DIA report, which has not yet been made public.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, the nation's top military officer, appeared caught off-guard. The Pentagon has in recent days sought to strike a balance between words of warning to the North and attempts to calm the situation.
An unclassified Pentagon report not yet released to the public suggests that North Korea can arm missiles with nuclear warheads, a lawmaker revealed Thursday. The results of a classified Defense Intelligence Agency report indicate that "North Korea now has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles."
It came when Rep. Doug Lamborn (R) of Colorado began quoting from what he said was an unclassified version of the DIA report, which has not yet been made public.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, the nation's top military officer, appeared caught off-guard. The Pentagon has in recent days sought to strike a balance between words of warning to the North and attempts to calm the situation.
But, almost simultaneously, the White House announces that.... (2)
"In today's House Armed Services Committee hearing on the
Department of Defense budget, a member of the committee read an unclassified passage in a
classified report on North Korea's nuclear
capabilities. While I cannot speak to all the
details of a report that is classified in its entirety, it would be inaccurate to suggest that the
North Korean regime has fully tested, developed, or demonstrated the kinds of nuclear capabilities
referenced in the passage. The United States continues to closely monitor the North
Korean nuclear program and calls upon North Korea to honor its international obligations."
- Statement by Press Secretary George Little on North Korea's Nuclear Capability
Published by theU.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
Published by theU.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
miguel de Portugal comments: As the decades old and much used phrase implies: "Houston, we have a problem!"
We live submerged in a sea of lies
Now then, do you really see why we keep "harping on" the fact that without a working relationship with the Holy Spirit of God anyone is lost?
In case that you have forgotten how this "working relationship with the Holy Spirit of God" is achieved, allow us to remind you: A well established and ample prayer life. There is no other way.
________________________________
(1) CSM Reports
(2) DOD Reports
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Women arrested for praying out loud at Jerusalem's sacred Western Wall. (1)
Five Jewish women have been arrested at Jerusalem's sacred Western Wall for wearing prayer shawls
and praying out loud in defiance of a court order forbidding them to do so.
Under Israeli law women are permitted to pray at the Western Wall, but only in silence.
The activists belong to a group called the 'Women of the Wall' and are engaged in a campaign to win the right to perform the same rituals as men at Judaism's most religious site.
Under Israeli law women are permitted to pray at the Western Wall, but only in silence.
The activists belong to a group called the 'Women of the Wall' and are engaged in a campaign to win the right to perform the same rituals as men at Judaism's most religious site.
miguel de Portugal comments: Although we do not agree with such law, it is a State Law. Therefore, it should be obeyed while they silently pray before the Wall so that such sexist law be changed.
_________________
(1) Euronews Reports
April 11th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Under the radar, Cuba and US often work together. (1)
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Under the radar, Cuba and US often work together. (1)
Cuba and the United States may be longtime enemies with a bucket list of grievances, but the fast
return of a Florida couple who fled U.S. authorities with their
two kidnapped children in tow shows the Cold War enemies are capable of remarkable cooperation on many issues.
Indeed, diplomats and observers on both sides of the Florida Straits say American and Cuban law enforcement officers, scientists, disaster relief workers, Coast Guard officials and other experts work together on a daily basis, and invariably express professional admiration for each other.
"I don't think the story has been told, but there is a real warmth in just the sort of day to day relations between U.S. and Cuban government officials," said Dan Whittle, who frequently brings scientific groups to the island in his role as Cuba program director for the Environmental Defense Fund.
"Nearly every time I talk to American officials they say they were impressed by their Cuban counterparts. There really is a high level of mutual respect."
Almost none of these technical-level interactions make the headlines, but examples are endless.
two kidnapped children in tow shows the Cold War enemies are capable of remarkable cooperation on many issues.
Indeed, diplomats and observers on both sides of the Florida Straits say American and Cuban law enforcement officers, scientists, disaster relief workers, Coast Guard officials and other experts work together on a daily basis, and invariably express professional admiration for each other.
"I don't think the story has been told, but there is a real warmth in just the sort of day to day relations between U.S. and Cuban government officials," said Dan Whittle, who frequently brings scientific groups to the island in his role as Cuba program director for the Environmental Defense Fund.
"Nearly every time I talk to American officials they say they were impressed by their Cuban counterparts. There really is a high level of mutual respect."
Almost none of these technical-level interactions make the headlines, but examples are endless.
miguel de Portugal comments: May this be another reminder, and example, that:
"What we see, is not what we get" and
"What we get, is not what we saw"
in everything!
The sheep-like masses are perpetually lied to.
This is another perfect example that, without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, no one has the proverbial prayer!
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Syrian rebel group pledges allegiance to al-Qaida. (1)
The leader of the most formidable rebel group in Syria
pledged allegiance Wednesday to al-Qaida but distanced himself from a claim that his
Islamic extremist faction had merged with the terror network's Iraqi branch.
Al-Qaida in Iraq said Tuesday that it had joined forces with Jabhat al-Nusra or the Nusra Front — the most effective force among the disparate rebel factions fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad. It said they had formed a new alliance called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
Talk of an alliance raised fears in Iraq, where intelligence officials said recently that increased cooperation was already evident in a number of deadly attacks.
Al-Qaida in Iraq said Tuesday that it had joined forces with Jabhat al-Nusra or the Nusra Front — the most effective force among the disparate rebel factions fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad. It said they had formed a new alliance called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
Talk of an alliance raised fears in Iraq, where intelligence officials said recently that increased cooperation was already evident in a number of deadly attacks.
miguel de Portugal comments: This is what happens when politicians, sitting on the proverbial fence, wring their well manicured hands while holding "ain't it awful" sessions and do nothing else about the new world crisis which are piling upon existing crisis.
Vacuum does not exists anywhere - not even in the spiritual domain. Since the sworn enemies of al-Qaida did nothing to help the Syrian rebels, al-Qaida was more that delighted to fill the vacuum.
And we pay these people to run our institutions? Lord have Mercy!
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 3
[our highlights]
Alert to Congress: Nuclear evacuation may bog down. (1)
A new government report challenges a pillar of planning
for disasters at American nuclear power plants, finding that people living beyond the
official 10-mile evacuation zone might be so frightened by the prospect of spreading radiation
that they would flee of their own accord, clog roads, and delay the escape of others.
For more than 30 years, community readiness has been based on the belief that evacuation planning isn't needed beyond 10 miles from nuclear sites. But the Government Accountability Office report - to be released later Wednesday but obtained in advance by The Associated Press - found that regulators have never properly studied how many people beyond 10 miles would make their own decisions to take flight, prompting what is called a "shadow evacuation."
As a result, the GAO report says, "evacuation time estimates may not accurately consider the impact of shadow evacuations." The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency in charge of nuclear safety, disputed the findings.
For more than 30 years, community readiness has been based on the belief that evacuation planning isn't needed beyond 10 miles from nuclear sites. But the Government Accountability Office report - to be released later Wednesday but obtained in advance by The Associated Press - found that regulators have never properly studied how many people beyond 10 miles would make their own decisions to take flight, prompting what is called a "shadow evacuation."
As a result, the GAO report says, "evacuation time estimates may not accurately consider the impact of shadow evacuations." The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency in charge of nuclear safety, disputed the findings.
miguel de Portugal comments: And again we say: And we pay these people to run our institutions? Lord have Mercy!
Aren't some of these people embarrassed at being so incompetent? No wonder there is "mutual respect" between (certain) American officials and their Cuban counterparts! (See News Report No. 1)
_________________
(1) News Report
April 10th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Egypt's Christian pope blasts Islamist president. (1)
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Egypt's Christian pope blasts Islamist president. (1)
The leader of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church on Tuesday
blasted the country's Islamist president over his handling of recent deadly sectarian
violence, including an attack on the main cathedral in Cairo.
The remarks by Pope Tawadros II underscore rising Muslim-Christian tensions in Egypt. They were his first direct criticism of President Mohammed Morsi since he was enthroned in November as the spiritual leader of Egypt's Orthodox Christians. They are also likely to fuel political turmoil that has been roiling the country since the ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak two years ago.
Egypt is already divided between two camps, with Morsi and Islamist allies in one and moderate Muslims, Christians and liberals in the other. The political schism is essentially over Egypt's political future after decades of dictatorship, a divide that has been compounded by a worsening economy and tenuous security.
The remarks by Pope Tawadros II underscore rising Muslim-Christian tensions in Egypt. They were his first direct criticism of President Mohammed Morsi since he was enthroned in November as the spiritual leader of Egypt's Orthodox Christians. They are also likely to fuel political turmoil that has been roiling the country since the ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak two years ago.
Egypt is already divided between two camps, with Morsi and Islamist allies in one and moderate Muslims, Christians and liberals in the other. The political schism is essentially over Egypt's political future after decades of dictatorship, a divide that has been compounded by a worsening economy and tenuous security.
miguel de Portugal comments: Let us continue to pray - there is nothing else that we can do.
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
North Korea urges foreigners to vacate South Korea. (1)
North Korea on Tuesday urged all foreign companies and tourists in South Korea to evacuate,
saying the two countries are on the verge of nuclear war. The new threat appeared to be an
attempt to keep the region on tenterhooks over its intentions.
Analysts see a direct attack on Seoul as extremely unlikely, and there are no overt signs that North Korea's 1.2 million-man army is readying for war, let alone a nuclear one.
South Korea's military has reported missile movements on North Korea's east coast but nothing pointed toward South Korea.
Still, North Korea's earlier warning that it won't be able to guarantee the safety of foreign diplomats after April 10 has raised fears that it will conduct a missile or nuclear test on Wednesday, resulting in U.S. retaliation.
Analysts see a direct attack on Seoul as extremely unlikely, and there are no overt signs that North Korea's 1.2 million-man army is readying for war, let alone a nuclear one.
South Korea's military has reported missile movements on North Korea's east coast but nothing pointed toward South Korea.
Still, North Korea's earlier warning that it won't be able to guarantee the safety of foreign diplomats after April 10 has raised fears that it will conduct a missile or nuclear test on Wednesday, resulting in U.S. retaliation.
miguel de Portugal comments: The more the North Korean saber rattling is mocked or discounted, the greater the probability of them making it good. It is basic Psychology 101. The new NK leadership cannot afford to "lose face" because that is the only thing that they have. Let us not forget the hara-kiri and kamikaze mentality of some oriental cultures. The West would have much to gain by staging a "We take you very seriously" scenario and much to lose otherwise.
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 3
[our highlights]
Iran cranks up uranium capacity after talks stumble. (1)
Iran has opened two new uranium mines and a plant to
process the ore, just days after talks with western powers over its controversial atomic
programme ended fruitlessly. On the country's National Nuclear Technology Day, President
Ahmadinejad stressed the need to speed up the work, in direct defiance of many international
calls.
The Iranians claim the processing plant is capable each year of producing 60 tonnes of yellow cake, a vital stage in the uranium purifying process. Iran has admitted refining uranium to 20 per cent, which is way above the level needed to fuel an atomic power station.
Ahmadinejad said that attempts by world powers to prevent Iran from 'going nuclear' were too late. Iran had already 'gone nuclear' he said.
The Iranians claim the processing plant is capable each year of producing 60 tonnes of yellow cake, a vital stage in the uranium purifying process. Iran has admitted refining uranium to 20 per cent, which is way above the level needed to fuel an atomic power station.
Ahmadinejad said that attempts by world powers to prevent Iran from 'going nuclear' were too late. Iran had already 'gone nuclear' he said.
miguel de Portugal comments: Was anyone out there who believed that we were going to stop Iran's nuclear plans with incessant chit-chat?
The answer is, of course, "Yes".... and most of them live and work in Washington, D.C.; therefore, let us continue to pray!
_________________
(1) Euronews Reports
April 9th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Korea: war talk tension clouds the facts. (1)
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Korea: war talk tension clouds the facts. (1)
There is confusion surrounding whether or not North
Korea is preparing for a fourth nuclear test. Earlier reports suggested increased activity
around the North's main underground test site. It now appears that that is not the case.
Kim Min-seok, from South Korea's defence ministry said: "We all know about the possibility that North Korea would fire a ballistic missile, so we are closely monitoring with the US the North's movement and the chances of a ballistic missile launch."
China, one of North Korea's few allies, has called for peace in the region. Japan meanwhile said its armed forces have orders to shoot down any North Korean missiles en route to its territory.
Kim Min-seok, from South Korea's defence ministry said: "We all know about the possibility that North Korea would fire a ballistic missile, so we are closely monitoring with the US the North's movement and the chances of a ballistic missile launch."
China, one of North Korea's few allies, has called for peace in the region. Japan meanwhile said its armed forces have orders to shoot down any North Korean missiles en route to its territory.
miguel de Portugal comments: One thing we are sure of: Whatever is done to contain North Korea will be the wrong thing. No prophecy - just post World War II experience.
With that said - allow us to open the eyes of the slumbering military leaders of the Western Powers and Japan.
But, first of all allow us to remind one and all that we are against war in any form or shape, but, since that is not the way the world works - and hasn't in the annals of recorded history (with the apparent exception of the Minoan Civilization (2)), let us talk war strategy.
If the North Korean armed forces launch a nuclear tipped missile towards US territory, or that of any of its allies, and it hits its territory, any North Korean strategic center should be completely erased from the map with just one single hit. That will bring to an end any further problems with North Korea - and neither China nor Russia will retaliate. They have far too much to lose.
That method worked to end the war with Japan, which could have lasted indefinitely with horrific casualties in both sides. It worked because "Pain is the megaphone that God uses for the deaf to hear" and, the greater the pain, the faster the desired response.
The "collateral effect" would be that neither Iran, nor Pakistan nor India would even think using nuclear weapons against the US or its allies.
As we said - we are against war (3) but, if those who have been losing wars since World War II still want to "play war", they should do it right!
Is that clear, high ranking boys and girls in uniform?
_________________
(1) News Report
(2) Minoan Peace
(3) If I were in charge, I would certainly NOT do it; but I am not. What we have done is to offer the merits of yesterday's Mass for the pacification of the North Korean leaders - but always deferring to the Will of God . We encourage our readers to do the same. Who knows? Maybe God was waiting for someone to do that to pacify North Korea.
News Assesment of the European Union
[our highlights]
'TOP SECRET' report may reveal Germany owes Greece billions of euros. (1)
Greek newspaper To Vima claims a secret report details millions of euros owed to
Athens by Germany for World War Two reparations and unpaid loans.
The story has been picked up by the online edition of German newspaper Der Spiegel, who quote Greek organisations calculating the value of loans from Athens to Berlin taken by the Nazis between 1942 and 1944 at 54 billion euros.
Der Spiegel also puts the figure owed to Greece for reconstruction after the Second World War at 108 billion euros.
Though the details of the report are being kept under wraps by the Greek Finance Ministry and Greek paper To Vima refusing to print any specific figures, the sentiment is likely to anger those in the debt-stricken country facing austerity.
Germany is often a target of protesters in Athens, as cuts are made to ensure Greece gets two more bailout payments from the EU and IMF worth nine billion euros.
To prevent more anti-German sentiment, for now, the report is classified 'TOP SECRET', but To Vima is urging the Greek government to publish it.
The story has been picked up by the online edition of German newspaper Der Spiegel, who quote Greek organisations calculating the value of loans from Athens to Berlin taken by the Nazis between 1942 and 1944 at 54 billion euros.
Der Spiegel also puts the figure owed to Greece for reconstruction after the Second World War at 108 billion euros.
Though the details of the report are being kept under wraps by the Greek Finance Ministry and Greek paper To Vima refusing to print any specific figures, the sentiment is likely to anger those in the debt-stricken country facing austerity.
Germany is often a target of protesters in Athens, as cuts are made to ensure Greece gets two more bailout payments from the EU and IMF worth nine billion euros.
To prevent more anti-German sentiment, for now, the report is classified 'TOP SECRET', but To Vima is urging the Greek government to publish it.
miguel de Portugal comments: The REAL news - assuming that the information is
correct (and it has all the signs of being so) - is why has the Greek governments kept this
secret when the German led European Union has all but financially crushed Greece?
This new development may turn into the "most viewed soap opera in the European Union".
In another front, the Portuguese Constitutional Court has struck down the key measures made by the Center-Right-Right government of Portugal to reduce expenses. (2) This has the Portuguese government scrambling to keep its promises to the European Union. "Scrambling" should be understood as finding other ways to reduce expenditures.
The problem in Portugal is as follows: When financial crisis strikes, the first move is to tighten the proverbial belt, however, they have lost their belt and trousers too....
Spain has seen its neighbor's (Portugal's) beard on fire and are trying to wet down theirs by more disinformation regarding the state of their crumbled economy.
Italy and its lack of government (3) continues to drift into oblivion.
The latest French financial scandal (4) has all but rendered it not very stable.
These "brilliant" European leaders have completely forgotten how the French Revolution was triggered (5). They have also forgotten that the Europeans of today are exactly the same as those in the 18th century - except in that they dress and comb their hair differently. When they wake up they will not know what to do with an Eurozone in flames.
_______________________
(1) http://www.euronews.com/2013/04/07/top-secret-report-may-reveal-germany-owes-greece-billions-of-euros/
(2) http://www.euronews.com/2013/04/08/portuguese-pm-vows-further-cuts/
(3) http://www.euronews.com/2013/02/26/rome-pays-the-price-of-uncertainty/
(4) http://www.euronews.com/2013/04/08/france-s-ex-budget-minister-cahuzac-tried-to-invest-15-million-euros-in-swiss-/
(5) http://www.mgr.org/FrenchRevolutionAndTheEnd.html
(1) http://www.euronews.com/2013/04/07/top-secret-report-may-reveal-germany-owes-greece-billions-of-euros/
(2) http://www.euronews.com/2013/04/08/portuguese-pm-vows-further-cuts/
(3) http://www.euronews.com/2013/02/26/rome-pays-the-price-of-uncertainty/
(4) http://www.euronews.com/2013/04/08/france-s-ex-budget-minister-cahuzac-tried-to-invest-15-million-euros-in-swiss-/
(5) http://www.mgr.org/FrenchRevolutionAndTheEnd.html
April 8th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Fidel Castro advises friend North Korea against war. (1)
Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro warned ally North Korea
against war on Friday and described the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula as one of
the "gravest risks" for nuclear holocaust since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
Saying he spoke as a friend, Castro wrote in Cuban state media that North Korea, led by 30-year-old Kim Jong-un, had shown the world its technical prowess and now it was time to remember its duties to others.
Few observers believe it will actually attack anyone, but Castro has become an anti-nuclear advocate in recent years.
"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was always friendly with Cuba, as Cuba always has been and will continue to be with her," Castro wrote, using an almost paternalistic tone.
Saying he spoke as a friend, Castro wrote in Cuban state media that North Korea, led by 30-year-old Kim Jong-un, had shown the world its technical prowess and now it was time to remember its duties to others.
Few observers believe it will actually attack anyone, but Castro has become an anti-nuclear advocate in recent years.
"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was always friendly with Cuba, as Cuba always has been and will continue to be with her," Castro wrote, using an almost paternalistic tone.
miguel de Portugal comments: It seems that our letter, which turned Mr. Castro into an anti-nuclear advocate, continues to produce fruit. It is amazing what a "peek into the future" can do to the proverbial old dogs. Contrary to popular lore, old dogs can actually learn new tricks.... with the proper incentive.
Of course, I am not counted amongst his favorite individuals since we had to point out to him - in order for him to snap into attention - how he had been had and used (2).
_________________
(1) News Report
(2) This is just one example
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Catholic Gonzaga University won't allow Catholic students to form Catholic group. (1)
Roman Catholic, Jesuit-affiliated Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington has refused to
recognize the Knights of Columbus as an official student group
because - wait for it -
the Knights of Columbus is a Catholic
organization.
Gonzaga administrators notified the students who had sought the school's official seal of approval last month, reports The Cardinal Newman Society's Catholic Education Daily.
"The Knights of Columbus, by their very nature, is a men's organization in which only Catholics may participate via membership," reads a letter written by Sue Weitz, vice president for student life.
At this point it seems like a sufficiently good place to note that Gonzaga is under the umbrella of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) — a men's organization in which only Catholic men may participate via membership.
Gonzaga administrators notified the students who had sought the school's official seal of approval last month, reports The Cardinal Newman Society's Catholic Education Daily.
"The Knights of Columbus, by their very nature, is a men's organization in which only Catholics may participate via membership," reads a letter written by Sue Weitz, vice president for student life.
At this point it seems like a sufficiently good place to note that Gonzaga is under the umbrella of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) — a men's organization in which only Catholic men may participate via membership.
miguel de Portugal comments: There is no doubt about it. The Opus Dei and its affiliates continue to lose the little ground they still have. Their arrogance does not allow them to see that their end (2) is approaching.
_________________
(1) News Report
(2) The End of the Opus Dei
News Report No. 3
[our highlights]
North Korea may be preparing to test missile. (1)
A top South Korean national security official said Sunday that
North Korea may be setting the stage for a missile test
or another provocative act with its warning that it soon will be unable to guarantee
diplomats' safety in Pyongyang. But he added that the North's clearest objective is to extract
concessions from Washington and Seoul.
Many nations are deciding what to do about the notice, which said their diplomats' safety in Pyongyang cannot be guaranteed beginning this Wednesday.
Tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang led South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff to announce Sunday that its chairman had put off a visit to Washington. ... The South Korean defense minister said Thursday that North Korea had moved a missile with "considerable range" to its east coast, possibly to conduct a test launch.
His description suggests that the missile could be the Musudan missile, capable of striking American bases in Guam with its estimated range of up to 4,000 kilometers (2,490 miles).
Citing North Korea's suggestion that diplomats leave the country, South Korean President Park Geun-hye's national security director said Pyongyang may be planning a missile launch or another provocation around Wednesday, according to presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing.
Many nations are deciding what to do about the notice, which said their diplomats' safety in Pyongyang cannot be guaranteed beginning this Wednesday.
Tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang led South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff to announce Sunday that its chairman had put off a visit to Washington. ... The South Korean defense minister said Thursday that North Korea had moved a missile with "considerable range" to its east coast, possibly to conduct a test launch.
His description suggests that the missile could be the Musudan missile, capable of striking American bases in Guam with its estimated range of up to 4,000 kilometers (2,490 miles).
Citing North Korea's suggestion that diplomats leave the country, South Korean President Park Geun-hye's national security director said Pyongyang may be planning a missile launch or another provocation around Wednesday, according to presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing.
miguel de Portugal comments: Never a dull moment around here.... or there, for that matter....
_________________
(1) News Report
First A news report from ZENIT files
HOLY SEE DECREES DAY OF DIVINE MERCY Proposed by Sister Faustina Kowalska
VATICAN CITY, MAY 23, 2000 (ZENIT.org).- Today the Vatican Press Office published a decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, whose prefect is Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina, which at John Paul II's instruction, establishes the feast of Divine Mercy to be held the Second Sunday of Easter. The official name of this liturgical day will be "Second Sunday of Easter or of Divine Mercy."
Devotion to the Divine Mercy is an authentic spiritual movement within the Catholic Church
promoted by St. Faustina Kowalska, whom the Pope canonized on April 30.
The Pope chose that day to announce the surprise.
The Pope chose that day to announce the surprise.
"Throughout the world, the Second Sunday of Easter will receive the name Divine Mercy Sunday, a perennial invitation to the Christian world to face, with confidence in divine benevolence, the difficulties and trials that humankind will experience in the years to come," the Holy Father explained on that occasion.
However, this statement was not part of the Holy Father's prepared speech, so it does not appear in the official transcript of his address for the canonization of Sister Faustina. [The publication of this decree by the Congregation for Divine Worship serves to announce officially to the universal Church the Pope's desire.]
Second A quotation from St. Faustina Diary
Section 1732 of Divine Mercy In My Soul The Diary of St. M Faustina Kowalska. Notebook VI, Pg 612 - English Version - Copyright 1987 - Congregation of Marians
As I was praying for Poland, I heard the words: I bear a special
love for Poland, and if she will be obedient to My Will, I will exalt her in might and
holiness. From her will come forth the spark
that will prepare the world for My final coming.
April 6th, 2013
[First
Saturday of the Month]
Hot Off the Press
A federal judge has ordered the Food and Drug Administration to make the so-called 'morning after pill' available as an over-the-counter drug to all ages without a prescription. (1)
miguel de Portugal comments: And to think that just yesterday we asked, rhetorically, of course: "What next?"
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
North Korea warns embassies that it can't guarantee safety. (1)
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
How to Shield Yourself From Smartphone Snoops.
News Report No. 3
[our highlights]
FEMA Alerts.
Hot Off the Press
A federal judge has ordered the Food and Drug Administration to make the so-called 'morning after pill' available as an over-the-counter drug to all ages without a prescription. (1)
miguel de Portugal comments: And to think that just yesterday we asked, rhetorically, of course: "What next?"
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
North Korea warns embassies that it can't guarantee safety. (1)
North Korea has warned diplomats in its capital of
Pyongyang that it can't guarantee the safety of
embassies in the event of a conflict and suggested they may want to evacuate their staff,
Russia's top diplomat said Friday.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is demanding an explanation from the North Koreans - asking whether the warning is an order to evacuate or merely a proposal that they should consider doing so.
"This proposal has been sent to all the embassies in Pyongyang," Lavrov said. "We are now trying to clarify the situation. We asked our North Korean neighbors a few questions that need to be asked in this situation."
About two dozen countries have embassies in North Korea. Lavrov was quoted during a visit to Uzbekistan as saying that Russia is in touch with China, the United States, Japan and South Korea - all members of a dormant talks process with North Korea - to try to figure out the motivation behind the warning.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is demanding an explanation from the North Koreans - asking whether the warning is an order to evacuate or merely a proposal that they should consider doing so.
"This proposal has been sent to all the embassies in Pyongyang," Lavrov said. "We are now trying to clarify the situation. We asked our North Korean neighbors a few questions that need to be asked in this situation."
About two dozen countries have embassies in North Korea. Lavrov was quoted during a visit to Uzbekistan as saying that Russia is in touch with China, the United States, Japan and South Korea - all members of a dormant talks process with North Korea - to try to figure out the motivation behind the warning.
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
How to Shield Yourself From Smartphone Snoops.
Your smartphone knows more about you than any other device, and it can so easily get into the
wrong hands.
If a stranger got hold of your smartphone, it would take just a few minutes to get to know you intimately. Your apps, messages, address book, calendar, browser history and photos tell a story about what you do for a living, who your best friends are, where you have been and what you like to do.
What can you do to shield yourself from snoops who gain possession of your phone? Fortunately there are some simple settings and apps to protect your smartphone so that if it is lost or stolen, it will be harder to peek into your life.
Here are some basic tips.
If a stranger got hold of your smartphone, it would take just a few minutes to get to know you intimately. Your apps, messages, address book, calendar, browser history and photos tell a story about what you do for a living, who your best friends are, where you have been and what you like to do.
What can you do to shield yourself from snoops who gain possession of your phone? Fortunately there are some simple settings and apps to protect your smartphone so that if it is lost or stolen, it will be harder to peek into your life.
Here are some basic tips.
News Report No. 3
[our highlights]
FEMA Alerts.
According to The American Red Cross, the Internet - including online news sites and social media
platforms - is the third most popular way for Americans to gather emergency information and let
their loved ones know they are safe. Make sure you are tech ready during an emergency with
these tips from FEMA.
You can also get text messages from FEMA sent to your phone. To sign up, text PREPARE to 43362 (4FEMA).
You can unsubscribe at any time by texting STOP to 43362 (4FEMA). Text messaging and data rates apply to this service.
Learn about using technology to prepare for disasters and emergencies.
You can also get text messages from FEMA sent to your phone. To sign up, text PREPARE to 43362 (4FEMA).
You can unsubscribe at any time by texting STOP to 43362 (4FEMA). Text messaging and data rates apply to this service.
Learn about using technology to prepare for disasters and emergencies.
April 5th, 2013 [First Friday of the Month]
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
Under California Bill Pedophilia Is A Sexual Orientation. (1)
California Congresswoman, Rep. Jackie Speier CA (D),
wants to federalize a state law to prohibit counseling to change a person's sexual
orientation. That doesn't sound that extreme, but
pedophilia is a sexual orientation according to this
bill as well.
Under the bill's language, a mental health counselor could be sanctioned if there was an attempt to get a pedophile or gay individual to change his behavior or speak negatively about their behavior as it relates to sexuality.
The bill calls on states to prohibit efforts to change a minor's sexual orientation, even if the minor requests it, saying that doing so is "dangerous and harmful."
The text of the legislation doesn't specifically ban "gay" conversion therapy. Instead, it prohibits attempts to change a person's sexual orientation.
"Sexual orientation change efforts' means any practices by mental health providers that seek to change an individual's sexual orientation," the bill says.
Republicans attempted to add an amendment specifying that, "pedophilia is not covered as an orientation." However, the Democrats defeated the amendment. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) stated that all alternative sexual lifestyles should be protected under the law, and accordingly decided that pedophilia is a sexual orientation that should be equally as embraced as homosexuality.
Under the bill's language, a mental health counselor could be sanctioned if there was an attempt to get a pedophile or gay individual to change his behavior or speak negatively about their behavior as it relates to sexuality.
The bill calls on states to prohibit efforts to change a minor's sexual orientation, even if the minor requests it, saying that doing so is "dangerous and harmful."
The text of the legislation doesn't specifically ban "gay" conversion therapy. Instead, it prohibits attempts to change a person's sexual orientation.
"Sexual orientation change efforts' means any practices by mental health providers that seek to change an individual's sexual orientation," the bill says.
Republicans attempted to add an amendment specifying that, "pedophilia is not covered as an orientation." However, the Democrats defeated the amendment. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) stated that all alternative sexual lifestyles should be protected under the law, and accordingly decided that pedophilia is a sexual orientation that should be equally as embraced as homosexuality.
miguel de Portugal comments: What next?
Bestiality to be also classified as a sexual orientation, thus, should be protected from
mental health counselors?
Legalizing the marriage between adults and children? How about between a human and a beast?
Teaching preschoolers about all the sexual orientations available so that they can take their pick?
Legalizing the marriage between adults and children? How about between a human and a beast?
Teaching preschoolers about all the sexual orientations available so that they can take their pick?
As we said yesterday: Most of humanity does not even deserve the Mercy of God! Some for "doing", but most for "allowing".
Besides...
[31] The queen of the south shall rise in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them: because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold more than Solomon here. [32] The men of Ninive shall rise in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas; and behold more than Jonas here. [Luke 11]
and
[14] And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words:
going forth out of that house or city shake off the dust from your feet. [15] Amen I say to you,
it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for
that city. [Matthew 10]
...we have nothing to add other than to plead with God to bring this perverted generation to a thundering end.
_________________
(1) News Report
April 4th, 2013
News Report No. 1
[ highlights by contributor]
"The FBI Tuesday morning arrested two high profile Queens politicians, State Sen. Malcolm Smith
(D) and City Councilman Daniel Halloran (R), and four other officials, charging them with
trying to rig the New York City mayoral race...."
(1)
“That's politics, that's politics, it's all about how much,” Halloran allegedly said to an
undercover FBI agent, according to federal prosecutors. “Not about whether or will, it's about
how much, and that's our politicians in New York, they're all like that, all like that. And they
get like that because of the drive that the money does for everything else. You can't do
anything without the (expletive) money."
Comments by contributor: As a boy, Daniel Halloran was very active in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in the Greater New York Councils (GNYC).
He earned its highest rank of Eagle Scout. He worked on staff at Ten Mile River Scouts Camps (TMR - the GNYC summer camp) for some years. He was a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow; the Masonic "honor society" of the BSA.
Raised in the Catholic faith (and a product of Catholic education), he left the Faith for Theodism (2), a type of Wiccan/Paganism. (3)
Yet as his web site shows (4), he kept up the external pretense of 'being Catholic' (i.e. using his Catholic roots as a selling point) and of being a loyal adult member of the BSA. (5)
Where did Danny go wrong? The clues are all in his BSA membership. This writer knew him as a Scout. His adult mentors in Scouting make the Cardinals of the Roman Curia look like saints by comparison. Particularly those at TMR and in the Order of the Arrow. They taught him how to rise in Masonic politics. And how "the money works". How to get, use, and abuse power. And the tremendous power of using (phony) public image as propaganda.
It was "good Catholic men" in Scouting who led him into Wicca - the worship of Mammon. And stood by, wearing the hats and aprons of the Lodge as he was raised in Freemasonry.
And those "good men" are still grooming other Scouts to take their place on the Square and Compass - waving both Cross and Flag as they do so.
The great irony here is that the BSA refuses to admit honest Agnostics or Atheists, who openly admit what they believe. While allowing incredibly hypocrisy and evil to thrive in those who use the Holy Name of God in vain. (6)
For the good of the souls of the boys involved, may God smash what is left of the BSA to the
ground!
_________________(1) News Source
(2) Theodism
(3) Halloran is neither the first nor the only boy with a similar level of involvement in NYC scouting to have been led into the occult. Serving on TMR staff exposes one to many literal pagans, youth and adult. And the knowledge that they 'hold services' out in the woods. Yet adults involved would claim to 'be Catholic'... and are friendly with the Diocesan chaplain (who is friendly with OD).
(4) Source
(5) Source
(6) There are also plenty of Protestant men in NYC scouting who do likewise. The only way such men can be on a 'level playing field' with the Catholic adults is via a type of mutual, masonic cooperation. They all 'speak the same language' and act in a similar mode.
News Report No. 2
[ our highlights]
Scientists find hint of dark matter from cosmos. (1)
A $2 billion cosmic ray detector on the International
Space Station has found the footprint of something that could be dark matter, the
mysterious substance that is believed to hold the cosmos together but has never been directly
observed, scientists say.
miguel de Portugal comments: Do you have any idea how many people could be helped to learn how to produce the food they so desperately need, and how many people could receive the most basic of fluids - fresh water - with $2 billion?
Most of us do not even deserve the Mercy of God.
He taught: Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. [Luke 6:36]
How many of us could answer "Yes" if He would ask us if we have been merciful towards those of His children in desperate need, while we stand before His Throne of Justice?
Then, why should most of us expect Mercy when we have not shown it to the least of His children?
Brethren, it is not "a pretty sight".
_______________
(1) News Report
April 3rd, 2013
News Excerpts
[our highlights]
The following are excerpts (our translation) of a full page article in the Spanish daily "El Mundo", Sunday, March 31, 2013, edition, p. 25.
Title: Pope
Francis' 'crosses' - The Pope inspires rejection amongst the traditionalists and the hierarchy who
live like kings.
A handful of days (and many revolutionary gestures) have been enough for Francis to have conquered
a good portion of the world population. For example, surveys reveal that 83 % of the Italians are
delighted with the Argentinean Pope, a number which peaks at 95 % among Catholics. Nonetheless,
francis is not liked by all. Not at all.
(Such profound dislike by a tiny, but powerful, minority is reflected on the following
commentaries in Rome.)
"They are going to end up getting this Pope out of the way... one of these days they will poison
him." resigned Romans predict because of their conviction that one like Francis cannot last long
in the nest of vipers that the Vatican is..
"He will end up like poor John Paul I", is the frequent statement heard in Rome's cafés.
"He will end up like poor John Paul I", is the frequent statement heard in Rome's cafés.
miguel de Portugal comments: The situation is that obvious to most. Of course we know that nothing will happen unless God allows it since even satan must serve God and His Divine timetable.
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Following is part of the Second Message for Good Friday (1) from an alleged seer (2) who claims to be receiving messages from Jesus.
Soon My Beloved Pope Benedict will guide God's children
from his place of exile.
The Crucifixion of My Mystical Body - My Church on Earth - commences today, the beginning of the final persecution, as the Masonic plan to defile My House, will now become clear to all who know the Truth.
History will now repeat itself, but the Truth will not be denied. Those who will deny Me, however, will in time turn to Me. Those who know that the prophecies foretold - that My Church will be the final target in ridding the world of all traces of Me, Jesus Christ – are now taking place, will follow Me in My Remnant army. They will remain loyal to My Teachings to the end of time.
No one can stop the True Word of God from spreading. No one. The reign in the House of Peter will be short and soon My Beloved Pope Benedict will guide God's children from his place of exile. Peter, My Apostle, the founder of My Church on earth, will guide him in the last difficult days, as My Church fights for its Life.
The Crucifixion of My Mystical Body - My Church on Earth - commences today, the beginning of the final persecution, as the Masonic plan to defile My House, will now become clear to all who know the Truth.
History will now repeat itself, but the Truth will not be denied. Those who will deny Me, however, will in time turn to Me. Those who know that the prophecies foretold - that My Church will be the final target in ridding the world of all traces of Me, Jesus Christ – are now taking place, will follow Me in My Remnant army. They will remain loyal to My Teachings to the end of time.
No one can stop the True Word of God from spreading. No one. The reign in the House of Peter will be short and soon My Beloved Pope Benedict will guide God's children from his place of exile. Peter, My Apostle, the founder of My Church on earth, will guide him in the last difficult days, as My Church fights for its Life.
miguel de Portugal comments: Needless to say, we summarily reject such claims and visions as being from God - in any of His Three Manifestations - or of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Those who are behind this 21st century version of the MMP are just paving the way to move Francis out of the way. For your information and reference and according to public records: That Domain was created on 25-Feb-11 and has been paid through to: 25-Feb-22. They, who are counting/promoting the Grabandal announced Warning (3), seem to have a very ample agenda; an agenda which will be cut short by the real God.
_________________
(1a) Alleged message
(1b) Home Page
(2) A series of divine prophecies relating to the Second Coming of Christ as revealed to a Roman Catholic European seer and prophet. She says the messages were revealed to her by the Holy Trinity and the Mother of God since November 8 2010. Over 650 messages have been received and are continuing daily.
(3) The Warning
News Report No. 3
[our highlights]
Pope to review Vatican bureaucracy, scandal-ridden bank. (1)
Pope Francis, who has said he wants the Catholic Church to be a model of austerity and honesty,
could restructure or even close the Vatican's
scandal-ridden bank as part of a broad review of its troubled bureaucracy, Vatican sources
say.
Francis, who inherited a Church mired in scandals over priests' sexual abuse of children and the leak of confidential documents alleging corruption and infighting in the Vatican's central administration, is mulling his options as he sets the tone for a reformed and humbler Holy See.
One of the tests of his papacy will be what he does about the bank which has regularly damaged the Vatican's image over three decades and faces growing calls for reform.
Any significant reforms of the IOR would not come for some time and would probably be made after changes at the Secretariat of State, the central Church department which was at the center of a "Vatileaks" scandal that rocked the Holy See last year.
These changes would include the replacement of its head, Cardinal Tarciscio Bertone, who is number two in the Vatican hierarchy and has widely been blamed for failing to prevent the many mishaps and infighting in Church government during the eight-year pontificate of Pope Benedict
Francis, who inherited a Church mired in scandals over priests' sexual abuse of children and the leak of confidential documents alleging corruption and infighting in the Vatican's central administration, is mulling his options as he sets the tone for a reformed and humbler Holy See.
One of the tests of his papacy will be what he does about the bank which has regularly damaged the Vatican's image over three decades and faces growing calls for reform.
Any significant reforms of the IOR would not come for some time and would probably be made after changes at the Secretariat of State, the central Church department which was at the center of a "Vatileaks" scandal that rocked the Holy See last year.
These changes would include the replacement of its head, Cardinal Tarciscio Bertone, who is number two in the Vatican hierarchy and has widely been blamed for failing to prevent the many mishaps and infighting in Church government during the eight-year pontificate of Pope Benedict
miguel de Portugal comments: It is obvious that someone must have deleted the following warning from Jesus from the Bishop of Rome's Bible:
Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye
therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves.
[Matthew 10:16]
Speaking from a world frame of reference - I do feel sorry for the man.
_________________
(1) News Report
April 2nd, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
You may now view the new Bishop of Rome honoring Escrivá.
miguel de Portugal comments: Perhaps he had no way out. We are sure that we will know more about this "Papal" endorsement soon.
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
Cartels dispatch agents deep inside US. (1)
Mexican drug cartels whose operatives once rarely
ventured beyond the U.S. border are dispatching some of
their most trusted agents to live and work deep inside the United States - an emboldened
presence that experts believe is meant to tighten their grip on the world's most lucrative
narcotics market and maximize profits.
If left unchecked, authorities say, the cartels' move into the American interior could render the syndicates harder than ever to dislodge and pave the way for them to expand into other criminal enterprises such as prostitution, kidnapping-and-extortion rackets and money laundering.
"It's probably the most serious threat the United States has faced from organized crime," said Jack Riley, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Chicago office.
The cartel threat looms so large that one of Mexico's most notorious drug kingpins - a man who has never set foot in Chicago - was recently named the city's Public Enemy No. 1, the same notorious label once assigned to Al Capone.
If left unchecked, authorities say, the cartels' move into the American interior could render the syndicates harder than ever to dislodge and pave the way for them to expand into other criminal enterprises such as prostitution, kidnapping-and-extortion rackets and money laundering.
"It's probably the most serious threat the United States has faced from organized crime," said Jack Riley, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Chicago office.
The cartel threat looms so large that one of Mexico's most notorious drug kingpins - a man who has never set foot in Chicago - was recently named the city's Public Enemy No. 1, the same notorious label once assigned to Al Capone.
miguel de Portugal comments: As long as the drug demand increases, there is nothing man - any man or any government - can do to stop drug trafficking.
As long as the entire social fabric continues to decay (and it will, until God stops it "cold on its tracks") the drug usage, thus, trafficking, will continue to increase.
Therefore, to such and similar news reports we respond: Really? So?
All we can do - and must do - is pray for the conversion of those traffickers and users. Nothing else will "put a dent" on it. Read my lips: Nothing else.
_________________
(1) News Report
News Report No. 3
[our highlights]
North Korea's parliament meets amid nuclear tension. (1)
After weeks of warlike rhetoric, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gathered legislators Monday for
an annual spring parliamentary session that followed a ruling party declaration
that nuclear bomb building and a stronger economy were
the nation's top priorities.
The meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly follows near-daily threats from Pyongyang, including vows of nuclear strikes on South Korea and the U.S. The United States, meanwhile, sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to participate in annual war games with South Korea, and the new South Korean president, who has a policy meant to re-engage Pyongyang with talks and aid, told her top military leaders to set aside political considerations and respond strongly should North Korea attack.
The meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly follows near-daily threats from Pyongyang, including vows of nuclear strikes on South Korea and the U.S. The United States, meanwhile, sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to participate in annual war games with South Korea, and the new South Korean president, who has a policy meant to re-engage Pyongyang with talks and aid, told her top military leaders to set aside political considerations and respond strongly should North Korea attack.
miguel de Portugal comments: They may be insane - which they are - but at least they do not beat arund the bushes. I trust that their threats are taken seriously to minimize the lenght of the after-the-fact "Monday morning quarterbacking" which, in this case would be, "Monday morning radiation count report".
_________________
(1) News Report
April 1st, 2013
News Report No. 1
[our highlights]
During a visit to Berlin on September 22, 2011, Maledict was ignored/snubbed by a number of Cardinals and Bishops who even refused to shake his extended hand.
Since that is what m de P would have done in the same circumstances, given his
position for the End of These Times, those
Bishops and Cardinals may have been aware of that too back in 2011. It is hard to believe that
such behavior would be triggered by personal differences or "bad chemistry" between them.
This news video is real. It is not a "photo shop job"
This news video is real. It is not a "photo shop job"
News Report No. 2
[our highlights]
North Korea launches economic threat. (1)
North Korea's military threats against the South and the US have now turned into economic ones.
The latest warns of a shut down of the Kaesong factory
complex.
The industrial park stands as the last significant symbol of cooperation between Pyongyang and Seoul. It is jointly operated but is more vital to the north’s economy as it provides 72 million euros a year in wages for the thousands of North Koreans who work there.
Threatening to shut Kaesong comes after a build up of tension on the Korean peninsular.
Leader Kim Jong-un has already said his country is entering a 'state of war' with the South and has readied rockets to strike at US targets.
The industrial park stands as the last significant symbol of cooperation between Pyongyang and Seoul. It is jointly operated but is more vital to the north’s economy as it provides 72 million euros a year in wages for the thousands of North Koreans who work there.
Threatening to shut Kaesong comes after a build up of tension on the Korean peninsular.
Leader Kim Jong-un has already said his country is entering a 'state of war' with the South and has readied rockets to strike at US targets.
miguel de Portugal comments: We do not think that the world at large is taking NK very serious at this time.
The point to be pondered upon is: They have taken their threats so far now that they will have to do something or lose face, in a major way, before their own people..... which would spell the end of the absolute control they have on their people.
It is as if they were "painting themselves into a corner" while using a non-drying paint.
_________________
(1) News Report
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